Kim Carr (Victoria, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Minister Assisting the Leader for Science) Share this | Hansard source

by leave—I move:

That the Senate take note of documents tabled by Senator Cash this morning.

Senator Cash was decent enough to provide me with a copy of this letter that she has tabled. Unfortunately, she was not courteous enough to tell me the time at which she was going to table the letter. So there was not an opportunity at the point that she tabled the document for us to take note.

I wish to take note that, once again, the government has failed to comply with an order to produce documents. The government has requested an extension of time for the Senate to provide documents with regard to the costs in relation to the purchase of lifeboats.

I find it curious that the government requires 30 days to comply with a straightforward request about a procurement process. I find it especially curious given that TheSydney Morning Herald managed to get hold of this information three days ago. I note that Senator Cash says in her letter tabled today that the files contain numerous documents, including cabinet documents and documents of a commercially sensitive nature. At no point have I, nor the Senate, requested the release of cabinet documents. I find that all very surprising, given that the documents that have been requested relate to what should have been a fairly straightforward and transparent procurement matter. These documents should in fact be readily available on the public record, yet no record of any procurement process to purchase the lifeboats in question exists. I cannot find anything on AusTender. I remind Minister Cash that her government is bound by the same Commonwealth procurement rules that other governments have been—rules that are designed and established to provide transparency and accountability for the expenditure of public moneys. While the minister may regularly choose to disregard and flaunt the processes of the parliament, hiding behind a cloak of secrecy and citing so-called operational reasons, it is a very serious matter indeed for governments not to comply with the normal procurement processes. In fact, the rules state:

Non-compliance with the requirements of the financial management framework, including in relation to procurement, may attract a range of criminal, civil or administrative remedies (including under the FMA Act, the Public Service Act1999 and the Crimes Act 1914).

That is a direct quote from the Commonwealth Procurement Rules. I think we are entitled to wonder what the government is hiding in this case. Is it the case that no tender process has been undertaken?

It is reported that the cost of each of these lifeboats is more than $50,000 per vessel. It is also reported that the government has purchased 12. Clearly, this is a procurement process which exceeds the thresholds for any normal tender process. If it is the case, as has been reported, that these vessels are only being used once, I suggest that this may well be a very expensive exercise.

Another of the main reasons for the procurement process is to ensure that Australian companies have a full and reasonable chance to bid for the work. I understand that, in the case of these lifeboats, they are all Chinese made. I further note that the cost of delivery apparently was not even included in the purchase of the lifeboats in question. I understand that a Customs vessel, the ACV Ocean Protector, has to be dispatched and diverted from its proper duties in the Southern Ocean to go and take delivery of the lifeboats in Singapore. On the surface, it would appear that this procurement arrangement would be in breach of both the spirit and the letter of the Commonwealth Procurement Rules, and I believe that the government needs to provide a full and honest account of these matters to the parliament.

Question agreed to.