Robert McClelland (Barton, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Minister for Defence) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I have a question for the Minister for Defence. I refer the minister to the findings of the Auditor-General that the first three Tiger helicopters accepted by the government are not capable of providing the performance required because they have inadequate power for their weight, as well as difficulties including faulty weaponry, faulty navigation systems, inadequate emergency locator beacons and substandard flight data recorders. Also, two have limited ability to operate over water. Would the minister explain why the government accepted delivery of these aircraft that have failed to meet their contractual specifications?

Brendan Nelson (Bradfield, Liberal Party, Minister for Defence) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I thank the member for Barton for his question. As is often the case, the media reporting of this particular matter is not entirely as the facts would support. The Australian National Audit Office and the Auditor-General have put five recommendations, all of which have been agreed to by the Department of Defence. They are that: for future complex projects, the formal report of the Tender Evaluation Board’s deliberations should be published; there should be periodic audits of intellectual property holdings; there should be testing before the acceptance of aircraft; liaison between project managers and capability managers should occur before accepting; and before the final contract is signed there should be unambiguous specifications. In fact, that is precisely the outcome of the reforms of Defence procurement undertaken under the guidance of Mr Kinnaird just over two years ago.

When the Australian government signed this contract for these attack reconnaissance helicopters in 2001, the French program upon which it is based was 18 months ahead of that of the Australian government. The Australian government’s performance in relation to the Tiger helicopters is so good that it is now ahead of that of the French and it is providing data back to the French. In fact, the project is on schedule; the aircraft are flying. This is a $1.9 billion acquisition by the Australian government. The Hellfire missiles have been successfully tested and, as far as the government is concerned, this project, particularly in relation to the training and the simulator, is very much coming back into program.

It should also be accepted, and I think everyone should accept, that, in relation to significant acquisitions in terms of procurement, such as the Air 87 Project with the Tiger helicopters—of which we are purchasing 22, 18 of which will be built in Australia—none of this can be done without risk. This project is essentially on track and is a part of this government’s significant commitment to strengthening Australia and building Australia’s defence capability.