Fitzgibbon wrong on defence vehicle acquisition

Senator the Hon Nick Minchin
Leader of the Opposition in the Senate
Shadow Minister for Defence (to 22 September 2008)

Mr Fitzgibbon’s attempts to politicise another Defence acquisition are simply no longer believable, the Shadow Minister for Defence, Senator Nick Minchin, said today.

In the AFR this morning, Mr Fitzgibbon sought to blame a “rushed” and “politicised” decision by the previous Howard Government for the Department of Defence’s re-letting of part of the Land 121 military vehicle tender.

“I am astounded by this claim of a rushed decision on Land 121 when the project went through the full and proper Kinnaird processes starting in 2003 and a decision was made on schedule in 2007,” Senator Minchin said.

“And claims of political interference are completely false – it was the Department of Defence that decided the winning tenderers, and the Howard Government’s National Security Committee signed off on Defence’s recommendation.

“Any Australian companies winning Land 121 contracts would do so entirely on their own merits, and not because of any political interference.”

The chronology of this project was as follows:-

27 August 2003

Request for Interest Announced

June 2004

First pass approved by NSC

17 March 2005

9 potential tenderers short-listed

13 December 2005

Requests for Tenders issued, with Senator Hill’s media release stating that proposals would be presented to the Government in 2007

mid-2006

Tenders closed and tender evaluation began

June 2006

2006 Defence Capability Plan released, in which it stated that Land 121 Year of Decision was 2006/07

August/September 2007

Second pass approved by NSC

5 October 2007

Preferred tenderers announced

“Any problems with this project have emerged in the past nine months during the contract negotiations phase, and Mr Fitzgibbon must take full responsibility for them.

“If Mr Fitzgibbon and the Department of Defence have decided to re-let this contract, then they need to admit it was because of their own failings, and not because of any Howard Government decision.

“At October’s Senate Estimates, we will be asking serious questions about what went wrong with this project, and what it will mean for our troops in the field.

“Has Defence changed the specifications after the tender? Have problems been caused by trying to ‘Australianise’ these vehicles rather than rely primarily on off-the-shelf solutions? If so, why has Mr Fitzgibbon and the Labor National Security Committee allowed this to occur? Will this slippage actually help them manage other cost blow-outs in the DCP?

“What will these delays mean for our troops deployed overseas? What will the delay end up costing the taxpayer?

“Mr Fitzgibbon’s lame attempts to blame the previous government for everything are no longer credible.

“He’s been the minister for nine months and he has to start taking responsibility for his own department,” Senator Minchin concluded.

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