David Johnston (WA, Liberal Party, Minister for Defence) Share this | Hansard source

Senator, if I am going to look at this and oversight what intervention I might be able to conduct, I do not want to get into the commercial-in-confidence aspects of percentages and what have you. Rule 5.3 is potentially a problem for Australian manufacturers. That is why we are bringing down a white paper that deals with industry policy, and these matters will be considered in the broader context of the way we do our business in Defence.

In terms of the quality, I think you have answered that question yourself, because you said it was a matter of value for money. If there had been a deficiency in any great and measurable degree in terms of quality, I think your constituent would well have been told precisely that. This was about the differential between manufacturing here and manufacturing overseas. Given the high dollar and all of the other issues, I am very concerned about this particular aspect. (Time expired)