Plan to buy submarines from Japan ‘driven by politics’, says Defence analyst

“OPTION J” — a codename for plans to buy submarines from Japan — was the “worst-kept secret” at the Adelaide Defence and Industry conference this week, a senior Defence analyst says.

Mark Thomson is from the Australian Strategic Policy Institute, which advises the Government on Defence decisions and has two members on the six-person expert panel developing the Government White Paper.

On Wednesday, Mr Thomson said he shared the fear of many that Option J — which could deprive South Australia of thousands of jobs and billions of dollars — was “being driven at the political level in the absence of the due diligence needed”.

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