Alas, alack gentlemen I am not an inhabitant of Australia or New Zealand but I have a lot of friends in Adelaide - and even in Port Adelaide (tho' I follow the Crows)
As to ASC:-The first submarine,
HMAS Collins, was laid down in February 1990.
Collins' launch was originally planned for 1994, but was later set for 28 August 1993.
[ Although launched on schedule, she was not complete: the design of the submarine had not been finalised, important internal pipes and fittings were not installed, the components of the combat system had yet to be delivered, and some hull sections were actually sheets of timber painted black so the submarine would appear complete in photographs of the launching ceremony.
Within weeks of the launch,
Collins was removed from the water, and it was not until June 1994 that the submarine was completed. Progress on the other five submarines was delayed by the extra effort required to meet
Collins' launching date and the subsequent work to complete her.
Collins was not commissioned into the RAN until 27 July 1996; eighteen months behind schedule, because of several delays and problems, most relating to the provision and installation of the combat data system software.
Collins was not approved for operational deployments until 2000.
The other five submarines were scheduled for completion at 12-month intervals. However, the series of defects and problems encountered during
sea trials of the submarines (particularly
Collins) resulted in the repeated diversion of resources from those still under construction, adding to delays. Consequently, delivery of the submarines ran significantly behind schedule; submarines were presented to the RAN between 21 and 41 months late, and the entire class was not cleared for full operational service until March 2004, a year after the last boat was commissioned. These delays forced the RAN to keep several
Oberon-class submarines and the submarine base
HMAS Platypus in service beyond their planned decommissioning dates.