As well as doubling (at least) the size of the submarine fleet, the paper describes a future RAN that will operate a larger number of larger vessels than is currently the case.
The detailed acquisition plan for this ambitious program is still under development.
But governments of both stripes have shown a tendency to favour Australian shipyards when acquiring warships.
So it is a fair bet that a significant fraction of the future tonnage will be built and supported here.
And through life support necessarily requires in-country capability.
What the future holds for the Australian naval shipbuilding industry is not yet clear.
There are various strategies that could be adopted to ensure that the industrial capability and capacity required to support the planned naval expansion is in place when required.
Essentially the question boils down to the extent to which the government sees fit, or feels compelled, to intervene in the market.
For the Strategic Policy Forum (March 2010), a selection of invited writers from the federal and state government sectors, industry and elsewhere provided their thoughts.
This publication is now available on the ASPI website, where the PDF may be downloaded.