Claire Clutterham (Sturt, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

Last week, the Albanese Labor government launched the Propel: Australian Submarine Scholarship program, a $15.8 million initiative to support the development of Australia's future nuclear-powered submarine workforce. Under this program, up to 3,000 scholarships will be offered to students studying priority STEM subjects at Australian universities. As well as financial support, the program will provide opportunities for the students to learn from accomplished Australian scientists and engineers.

The program is being delivered through a partnership between the Australian Submarine Agency and the Australian Academy of Technological Sciences and Engineering. Its purpose is to grow the highly skilled workforce needed to deliver and sustain Australia's nuclear-powered submarines, the SSN-AUKUS class boats, which will be so critical to our maritime defence capability.

Over the coming decades, 20,000 highly skilled jobs will be created across Australia in aid of the nuclear-powered submarine program, including almost 10,000 at various stages across the program in my home state of South Australia. That we need a pipeline of qualified and motivated workers is an understatement, and the Propel program will help to shore up and ready this workforce capability. Greater degrees of self-sufficiency is all about the Albanese Labor government's deliberate policy agenda of a Future Made in Australia.

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