Marise Payne (NSW, Liberal Party, Minister for Defence) Share this | Hansard source

I think the question actually pertains to the portfolio of the Minister for Defence Personnel, but happily I have that job as well, in representation terms, so I am very happy to answer Senator Carr.

As the senator has observed, the Australian Army is introducing a new service dress uniform which has been progressively rolled out since June of this year. In April 2015 a contract was signed with Australian Defence Apparel, a company based in Bendigo, that includes a service dress jacket and 'lowers'. For the senator's benefit, lowers are trousers, skirts and things like that. The cost to introduce the Army's new service dress uniform is approximately $9.6 million over two years. Australian Defence Apparel's tender was assessed as the best value for money, with the tendered price representing an estimated saving of over 18 per cent over the prices at that time.

The service dress jacket and lowers are being manufactured in China utilising established subcontractor arrangements. However, items such as the Akubra-provided ADF slouch hat and the RM Williams parade boots are of course manufactured in Australia. Australian Defence Apparel has estimated that manufacture in Australia would be triple the cost of the contract as it stands.

Commonwealth procurement rules do indeed require Defence to seek value for money and do not allow discrimination based on the country of manufacture. The exception to that is the standard dress uniform, which was granted a government exemption in 2011. That garment is manufactured in Australia by Australian Defence Apparel, using Australian material.