Ten billion dollars.

Jobs. Endless jobs.

Fingers crossed. This will put us on the map if we get it, right?

Before the regional cargo cult gets too frothed, some words of caution.

A base for submarines bought on the never-never, expected to arrive in 2040? A base for nuclear submarines?

Yep, it will put us on the map alright. A big, fat targeting map in the event the world turns completely to custard, a trajectory on which it seems hell bent right now, especially if you listen to Colonel Dutton, who's been beating the war drums for months now.

Even if the unthinkable doesn't happen, the thinkable very well might. A leaking reactor, a fire (remember that cargo ship that burned at the pier in Port Kembla for weeks?), an accident no one thought would ever happen.

No, a nuclear submarine base in the midst of a populated area doesn't seem like a great idea.

The announcement of it shows we are in the throes of a khaki election campaign. A phony war, maybe, as the election is yet to be called, but a war nonetheless.

Why else trumpet an idea whose delivery is still years off, long after this government will be little more than a passing footnote in Australia's political history?

Trailing disastrously in the polls, with the sense no one's listening, the government wants to demonstrate it's in control and on a war footing. It wants us to stand up, salute the flag, be "100 per cent Australian". It wants to appeal to our base instincts.

It's dangerous snake oil, hawked by a desperate salesman failing to meet his quota. A nuclear base in the midst of any population centre is not a good thing.