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 26 November 2012:

With reference to the major project Ultra High Frequency Satellite Communications JP 2008 Phase 5A, can the following details be provided:

(a) the date of the first date for first pass approval;

(b) the date of the first estimated date, time period, for second pass approval;

(c) the date of first pass approval;

(d) the date of second pass approval;

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

(f) the current estimated acquisition cost;

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

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

(i) the reason(s) for the delay in this project, if applicable.

Bob Carr (NSW, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Foreign Affairs) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

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

The information you are seeking would require considerable research into historical Defence Capability Plans and project approval/management documents, and as such, is considered an unjustified diversion of resources.

Publicly available documents such as the Public Defence Capability Plan (http://www.defence.gov.au/publications/CapabilityPlan2012.pdf), Portfolio Budget Statements (http://www.defence.gov.au/budget/) and the Defence Annual Report (http://www.defence.gov.au/annualreports/) provide some detail on the information being sought.