The federal government has put Australia's shipbuilders on notice, telling them they need to come up with a competitive tender if they want to be involved in construction of a new submarine fleet.
"In terms of our current record it's a shocker," Industry Minister Ian Macfarlane told ABC radio on Tuesday, referring to the Air Warfare Destroyer project which has come with a price tag three times the cost of buying the ships from Spain.
Despite that, Mr Macfarlane is optimistic Australian industry will have a substantial role to play in building new submarines.
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