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

I ask a supplementary question, Mr President. I thank the minister for that partial response. Can the minister confirm that any interim options to maintain our air superiority will be additional costs over and above the $16 billion for the JSF itself? Is the government now expecting taxpayers to pay potentially hundreds of millions of dollars because it has failed to plan for the implementation of this new defence capability? What are the cost implications if the delays in the delivery of the JSF, as reported, significantly slip to 2017 or beyond?