Buying off-the-shelf nuclear powered submarines from overseas is an interesting proposal but not something the coalition could make a call on from opposition, Leader Tony Abbott says.
The option was suggested at a community forum in Adelaide on Thursday as a way of saving money and modernising Australia's maritime defences.
Mr Abbott said his preference was always to have maritime defence project work done in Australia.
But he said the opposition did not have access to all the necessary information to take a firm stand on all the options available.
"That's an interesting proposal that's been put," he told the gathering of about 200 voters in the Adelaide seat of Hindmarsh.
"My preference would be to do things in Australia and my preference would be to do things in South Australia when it comes to submarines.
"But it would be irresponsible of a government not to very, very carefully weigh what is in our best long-term defence interests as well as what is in our best long-term industrial interests," he said.
The federal government recently allocated $214 million to the design phase for the Navy's next fleet of submarines which will replace the six existing Collins Class vessels.
It is considering four options - a military off-the-shelf design adapted to local standards and assembled in Australia, an off-the-shelf design complemented by Australian combat communications and weapons systems, a derivative of the Collins Class submarines or a brand new design.
Mr Abbott said the opposition would wait to see what the government decided but described the funding allocation as a way of putting off making a decision.
He said while the government continued with more studies, the existing submarine fleet was barely operational
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