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

asked the Minister representing the Minister for Defence Materiel, upon notice, on 2 November 2011:

In regard to the major project: Next Generation Satellite Communications System JP 2008 Phase 4, can the following details be provided:

(a) the date that the project was first proposed to Government as a major capital equipment initiative;

(b) the date of the first estimated date, time period, for first pass approval, as per the Defence Capability Plan (DCP) or when it was first proposed to Government;

(c) the date of the first estimated date, time period, for second pass approval, as per the DCP or when it was first proposed to Government;

(d) the date of the first pass approval;

(e) the date of the second pass approval;

(f) the date of initial materiel release when first proposed to Government;

(g) the current date of initial materiel release;

(h) the estimated acquisition cost when first proposed to Government;

(i) the amount spent to date on this project;

(j) the current estimated acquisition cost;

(k) the date of estimated initial operational capability when first proposed to Government;

(l) the current date of estimated initial operational capability; and

(m) the detailed reasons for the delay in this project, if applicable.

Chris Evans (WA, Australian Labor Party, Leader of the Government in the Senate) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The Minister for Defence has provided the following answer to the honourable senator's question:

(1) The information you are seeking will require considerable research into historical Defence Capability Plans and project approval/management documents, and as such, is considered an unjustified diversion of resources from the Capability Development Group's core business.

Publicly available documents such as the Public Defence Capability Plan, Portfolio Budget Statements and the Defence Annual Report provide some detail on the information being sought.