SingaporeIn this episode we continue with the sorry tale of burying Taipan helicopters rather than donating them to Ukraine. This really is a disgrace and has the potential to cost Defence Minister Richard Marles his job because new information is that the Government was made aware in November of Ukraine’s interest, a full month earlier than previously reported. Mind you, that depends on the Opposition doing their job – namely, holding the Government to account. Ukraine wants to use the Taipans for casualty evacuation – and their use would save the lives of thousands of young men and women. What sort of Government do we have that prefers to destroy the helicopters rather than donate them to save lives? Finally for some comic relief we look at the time when Defence decided to bury two Russian helicopter gunships because they couldn’t think of anything better.

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Kym Bergmann
Kym Bergmann has more than 35 years of experience in journalism and Australian and international defence industry. After graduating with Honors from the Australian National University, he joined Capital 7 television, holding several positions including foreign news editor and chief political correspondent. After 2 years on the staff of a Federal Minister, he moved to the defence sector and held senior positions in several companies, including Blohm+Voss, Thales, Celsius and Saab. In 1997 he was one of 2 Australians selected for the Thomson CSF 'Preparation for Senior Management' MBA course, the other being Chris Jenkins - formerly the CEO of Thales Australia. He has also worked as a consultant for a number of companies, including Raytheon, Tenix (now part of BAES) and Martin Marrietta (now part of Lockheed Martin). He had several board appointments, including Thomson Sintra Pacific (1994 - 96) and Saab Pacific (1998 - 2003). He retains good personal links with senior figures in Government, as well as in industry and the media. He decided to return to journalism in May 2008, and holds the position of editor for Asia Pacific Defence Reporter (APDR) and Defence Review Asia (DRA). He is also a podcaster and commentator on defence and national security issues.

1 COMMENT

  1. I often wondered what happened to those Gunships at Tindal. I’m not surprised. The DoD (in fact all Government Departments ) are so moribund in Bureaucracy that it’s a wonder anything gets done.

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