Mark Bishop (WA, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Minister for Defence Industry, Procurement and Personnel) Share this | Hansard source

$1.2 billion over the next 30 years are going to be the repayment costs paid by this government to the consortia erecting the project out there at Bungendore—a project not requested by the chiefs of the defence forces, a project not required by the defence forces, a project imposed upon them. And they, in their wisdom, are going to keep their old headquarters in various parts of Sydney.

The opposition has been diligent in pursuing this matter in the various forums that are available to it to get some reasonable answers to reasonable questions. Unfortunately, the government has been equally diligent in refusing—in public forums, in accountable forums—to provide any reasoned or reasonable response to those issues. So I think the appropriate thing to do is to refer this issue of the funding, the costing, the repayments and some of the contract details off to the Joint Committee of Public Accounts and Audit. Let there be proper questioning down in that committee, in that chamber—as to the intention of government with this particular project, as to why it has not used its own surplus to fund the project and as to why it is intent upon spending in excess of $1.2 billion over the next 30 years to fund a project which its own budget papers disclose is going to cost only $339 million. Why in God’s own name would you seek to repay $1.2 billion for a project which is only slated to cost something in the order of $339 million? (Time expired)