Jay Weatherill, who spent more than six years as South Australian premier, will be Australia’s next high commissioner to the UK.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese announced Weatherill’s appointment on Monday, describing the choice as “entirely appropriate”.

Weatherill led SA from 2011-2018, and served in the state parliament for 16 years, where he drove debate on defence capability, renewable energy targets and environmental protection issues.

Albanese praised the former Labor premier as a leader in defence industry and as being “instrumental” in the construction of submarines.

“Jay is well placed to take forward AUKUS in our nation’s interest, particularly with SSN-AUKUS, which we’ll be doing in partnership with the United Kingdom,” he said.

Australia will acquire nuclear-powered submarines under the AUKUS security pact with the US and Britain.

The SSN-AUKUS class will be built in Adelaide, based on a British design, with the first to be completed in the early 2040s.

The outgoing high commissioner is former defence minister Stephen Smith, who has been in the role since January 2023.

Albanese thanked him for his service and noted his leadership in Australia’s work with the “coalition of the willing”, a group of nations dedicated to strengthening Ukraine’s defence against Russia’s war.

“Stephen has done a remarkable job in representing Australia’s interests across the UK, across security and defence matters in particular,” he said.

-AAP