Mark Bishop (WA, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

I move:

That the Senate take note of the answers given by ministers to questions without notice asked today relating to a range of defence matters.

I say at the outset that there are probably not two more important matters in the role of government than the sound administration of defence policy in all aspects and the sound administration and proper use of public funds. Throughout this continuing debate as to the proper administration and management of a range of procurement projects over the last 10 years, it is fair to say, in the most generous way, that government policy, administration and practice have been at best haphazard. If we look at a range of projects that are still some two, three and four years overdate, one is being extraordinarily generous to use the word ‘haphazard’ when the appropriate description is that there has been a litany of disasters in the administration by this government of a range of procurement projects.

When one looks for the common theme that runs through the government mismanagement of defence procurement projects one sees a number of items—significant cost overruns, time blowouts and ongoing changes to contracts and contract specifications which have ongoing consequences for time and delivery. The net result has been, in a range of platform procurement items, whether in the air, on the ground or at sea, continuing delay in delivery of those platforms and those projects to the Australian Defence Force and, as a consequence, the ongoing inability of the government to match reality with desire in terms of capability.

We only have to look at a range of helicopter projects for it to be understood that, if projects are delayed by two, three or more years and are not delivered consistent with the contract terms, we do not have capability and that capability has to be supplemented at cost from other areas, which eats into the available funds for budget. This has been a direct consequence of government decision making by a range of ministers for defence over the last eight to 10 years in a range of capital acquisition projects.

One only has to look at the list of projects which are on the public record. Firstly, the AWACs, the early warning and control aircraft, are two years late and you can bet your bottom dollar that the systems integration issues there are going to be much more serious and will blow out to four or five years. After four years we still do not have one M113 personnel carrier. At the public hearing today we were advised by representatives of Defence Materiel Organisation that they are still facing at best a two-year delay with the Tiger helicopters. We know that another helicopter platform, the Seasprites, has been grounded. They are under review by government, and a general of the Army has been tasked with doing a review as to whether they are suitable going into the future or whether they need to be replaced. That review currently sits on Minister Nelson’s desk and no public decision has been made, although leaks have been strategically made to the media. We know that the Seasprites are never going to fly in this country.

Fiascos such as this litany of ships, helicopters and personnel carriers have contributed in a significant way to the inability of the government to reconcile defence accounts over the last few years and, in particular, the inability of the Secretary and Chief of the Defence Force to sign off on those same accounts at the end of each financial year. It is disgraceful that, in a department with a budget of $20 billion outlaid per annum, the senior officers are unable to sign off on the accounts because of lack of governmental and ministerial attention to their portfolio responsibilities. It is time in this whole area of defence spending— (Time expired)