Cynics might say that is what the ANAO always does – pick on a few problem areas and ignore all of the positives. However, this would overlook the fact that some of the criticisms go to the heart of the problem, dealing with matters of schedule, risk and accountability. The most important single point raised in the report released on January 14 is in the Executive Summary and – just in case anyone skipped that – repeated twice in the body of the text, saying:
“The program is currently experiencing a nine-month delay in the design phase against Defence’s pre-design contract estimates, and two major contracted milestones were extended. As a result, Defence cannot demonstrate that its expenditure of $396 million on design of the Future Submarine has been fully effective in achieving the program’s two major design milestones to date. Defence expenditure on design represents some 47 per cent of all program expenditure to 30 September 2019.” The report has drawn the usual reflexive
Read more in the current issue of APDR (Free to read with registration or via Facebook/Linkedin): https://venturaapdr.partica.online/apdr/apdr-feb-2020/features/australian-national-audit-office-identifies-problems-with-the-future-submarine-project
