Prime Minister Tony Abbott: Our submarines needs to be world class. Credit:Angela Wylie

But Prime Minister Tony Abbott said on Thursday he wanted the best quality of submarine at the best value - regardless of where it was made.

"We need to get the best possible submarines for our navy and decisions about future submarines have to be made on the basis of what is best for our armed forces, not what is best for a particular region or what might be best for a particular company here in Australia," he told reporters in Melbourne.

"The last thing we want is a substandard submarine. We would not want that.

"Like all of my colleagues, I would like to see our armed forces using Australian equipment, wherever possible, but it has to be absolutely world class and it has to be at a competitive price," he said.