Stephen Conroy (Victoria, Australian Labor Party, Deputy Leader of the Opposition in the Senate) Share this | Hansard source

My question is to the Minister for Defence, Senator Johnston. I refer the minister to his disgraceful statement yesterday that he would not trust ASC workers to build a canoe. I refer to the Defence Procurement Policy Manual, which notes bias as a major risk factor for any ethical or probity breach in a tender process. Given the minister's clear bias against the ASC, is there any way that he could be involved in a fair process for selecting Australia's submarines that is consistent with defence procurement policy?