Liberal Party pollsters Crosby Textor are poised to become involved in the submarine race with German shipbuilder ThyssenKrupp Marine Systems planning to hire the firm to help with its bid for the $50 billion contract.
Meanwhile, Fairfax Media can reveal that the Turnbull government's national security committee of Cabinet has signed off on the plan to commit to building a full fleet of 12 submarines to replace the ageing Collins Class.
Also on Wednesday, Defence officials dismissed suggestions that the Japanese bid was getting favourable treatment by being allowed to patch up holes in its proposal to build the new fleet.
Germany, Japan and France are in a three-way race to build the new boats starting in the late 2020s. Each has submitted a proposal that the Defence Department is now examining under the so-called "competitive evaluation process".
Fairfax Media has learnt that TKMS Australia is seeking the services of Crosby Textor, the political polling firm with a long history of working as pollsters and strategists for the Liberal Party. The firm is expected to survey Australian attitudes towards the submarine project.
TKMS Australia chairman John White declined to comment.
The Financial Times newspaper reported this week that Japan had failed to submit a detailed budget plan or identify which of the two major Japanese firms involved was actually in charge of the project.
Australian officials had laid increasing pressure on Japan to fix these gaps in its proposal after bids had closed at the end of November, the paper reported.
Independent South Australian Senator Nick Xenophon asked Defence officials during a Senate hearing whether any of the bidders had been asked to provide further information.
The Navy's head of the submarine program, Rear Admiral Greg Sammut, said that information had been "requested of all participants".
It had been asked in a different form of one bidder with whom there was a "government-to-government arrangement as opposed to a commercial arrangement", he said.
This indicated Japan, whose bid is being effectively run by the Japanese government in contrast to the German bid by TKMS Australia and the French partially government-owned firm DCNS.
"But the information requested of each participant is the same," Rear Admiral Sammut said.
He said this was consistent with the bidders' contracts with Defence.
Senator Xenophon, asked later whether he was concerned that the Japanese were being coached through their bid, said: "I can't say that, but that is the obvious question that will arise if there has been a contract variation … That could well mean that there has been an opening up of the process.
"I just want it to be a fair process and I want taxpayers to get value for money."
