The subs aren't even technically for our benefit anyway.
They're so our country and our sons can do their part serving a US policy of maintaining primacy and defending the unipolar world.
Whereas the deal is in US interests because it commits our troops to their fight, and result in will provoke China and put further at risk our country being bombed (significant chance)or invaded by China (less likely).

At least let us all understand what the damn things are for.
The US would probably prefer to keep them packed with nukes for themselves instead.
We don't really bring any extra benefit to their interests by having them unless they have excess they wish to offload, except providing a financial boost to their flagging ship-building industry.

Subs do bring some benefits, but modern wars are now fought with drones and missiles.
And if ours aren't better than Russia China or Irans, then it's best we not get caught up in Americas war in the first place, because things won't go well for us.

Nuclear subs won't prevent the average okker voter from not thinking !

Indyvidual

The average non-thinking okker is actually tuned in to reality enough to recognise his totally insignificant role in changing political outcomes by voting.
Where he demonstrates his brain is challenged, is when he joins the 97% of sheep and goes along to perform the mantra of voting!

diver dan,
Ideally, the way to manage society is with benevolent Dictatorship. What we have now is a Dictatorship that is not only not benevolent but also incompetent.
This political Climate Change called Democracy has been a failure for so long now that people can't even comprehend the difference between good & bad anymore

Let's have a hypothetical with real possibilities; An aggressor heads for Australia with Planes, ships & submarines. Australia has half a dozen subs. Now the confusion on where to position the subs stalls any strategy to retaliate & the aggressor simply pushes on. Then one or two or more Australian subs suffer break-downs outside its territorial waters. Now, a rescue mission gets organised which takes focus, effort & actual defence out.
Were there land-based missile stations all Australia would need to do is wait till the aggressor comes into range & press the buttons. No rescue efforts needed along with the costs & danger to submarine crews etc.
I'd feel much safer with knowing about having access to missiles instead of wondering where the submarines are ! $360 Billion would put a literal missile curtain around Australia, submarines won't !

Communist China will continue intimidating Australia, thanks to Albanese's lack of response. Xi has publicly praised Albanese for being docile in the face of Communist aggression.

If Albanese has the relationship with Communist China all sewn up as he claims, there would be no reason for the Communists to be live firing just off our coast, or a spy ship in our waters off South Australia and Western Australia.

China believes that Australia is “alone and naked at the bottom of the world”. China intends to isolate us from America; the strategy is being discussed in their military colleges.

Defence should be a central issue in the coming election. Shamefully, the uniparty does not have the guts to do anything, making it as big a threat to the population as China is. They are of no use to us if they are not prepared to defund us. Both contestants for the job of PM are a bloody disgrace.