'AUKUS tsar': Andrew Hastie wants 'ruthless' private sector know-how over Australia's nuclear submarines

In an interview with The Canberra Times, Mr Hastie stood by his assessment that the Albanese Labor government is cannibalising defence, particularly the army, as it reprioritises a total of $19 billion in defence spending over the next four years.

He also said Australia is losing a war for defence talent and there needs to be consideration for personnel issues such as pay, citizenship and making defence more family friendly, if the thousands of people needed are to be recruited and retained.

But the new alignment in defence, as outlined in the recent Defence Strategic Review, towards the "missile age" and nuclear-powered submarines has Mr Hastie urging private sector nous to steer big projects home.

"There should be an AUKUS tsar, with statutory authority, who is grouping up with the private sector, so that we're all moving in the right direction," he said.

"Someone who knows how to manage money, how to manage budgets, and is ruthlessly mission-focused on delivering capability for our nation.

"The private sector is ruthless, if you don't deliver, you lose the job."

The trilateral security and technology sharing AUKUS pact with the US and UK will deliver eight nuclear-powered submarines to Australia over the next three decades. The total budget is estimated to reach up to $368 billion but the figure itself includes a $100 billion contingency allowing for cost overruns and delivery problems.

"People can get away with going slow. Whereas in the private sector, you deliver or you're gone," Mr Hastie said.

Budget papers reveal defence is getting $4.2 billion over the decade to establish the new stand alone federal agency, the Australian Submarine Agency, which will carry the ambitious project from "cradle to grave".

The agency will arise from the Nuclear-Powered Submarine Taskforce.

"There is the Department of Defence, there's the ADF itself, there's the Submarine Taskforce. And then there's the defence industry in the private sector," the opposition's defence spokesman said.

"And who is leading that? Who is reporting directly to the minister and demonstrating that the private sector is getting ready for this massive uplift in capability and production?

"There's a lot of political risk in AUKUS."

Defence Minister Richard Marles has told The Canberra Times there has been far too much "ring fencing" of defence and he wants the Defence and Finance departments to have an "excellent" relationship with each other to get value for money, as well as speed for money.

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Mr Hastie said he saw "quite a bit" of waste as the assistant defence minister in the Morrison government and he is on a unity ticket with Mr Marles striving for better outcomes from defence dollars.

"Last year, in October, he stood up and he said that the buck stops with him as the minister. So I'm calling him on that," he said.

"And I'm saying get on with the job, start delivering capability and demonstrate that you are very serious about the challenges that we have before us."

The government has previously rejected an opposition proposal for a bipartisan joint statutory committee for AUKUS to deal together with sensitive aspects of the pact, but Mr Hastie said Australia needs to do more to show AUKUS partners and the Australian public that it is ready.

"AUKUS is an industrial project, it's a technology project, but it's very much so a political project," he said.

The former SAS captain said "there is no time to lose" as China builds what is the biggest peacetime militarisation since World War II.

"They're not being transparent with their objectives or intentions," he said.

Addressing the federal budget and the Defence Strategic Review, he said "there's no real new money" and "they shouldn't pretend that this is remaking defence".

But he remains concerned the reprioritisation - $19 billion over four years - is at the expense of the army.

"I do believe it's being cannibalised, particularly army capability. We need to be able to win both the deep fight and the close fight," the WA federal member said.

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Mr Marles insists defence spending will grow over the medium term, which is "in line with the strategic circumstances".

One of the biggest problems facing defence is people. Hiring and keeping them. The budget shows that staffing levels are expected to be lifted by more than 2500 across the portfolio, with the military gaining an additional 1200 places.

"I think first of all, our pitch to Australians is not right. I think there's a lot of work to be done in recruiting to make sure that we're recruiting the right people," the shadow defence minister said.

"And it should be about service to your country, first and foremost, not about all the benefits that you can get as an individual."

He suggests a serious look at defence pay as "unless you're putting money against a priority, you're not serious, making defence more family friendly, and consider taking people from like-minded, perhaps five-eyes nations.

"I think it's definitely something that we need to explore. There are always risks, but to poo poo it out of hand I think is unwise," he said.

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