Before we say some more about the General Purpose Frigate debacle let’s unpack the AUKUS nuclear-powered submarine debacle and the revelation in Senate Estimates hearings that we are making two almost identical $4.7 billion payments to US and UK companies without a refund clause.
Mind you that information had to be dragged out of ASA Head, VADM Jonathon Mead, who refused to answer several questions about a refund or clawback clause. Clearly there isn’t one. Imagine if it were revealed that the government had given $9.4 billion to a company to build a hospital without any conditions and no refund clause. There would be outrage because nothing would prevent the company pocketing all of the cash and laughing at taxpayers.
Then the General Purpose frigate – and there is more evidence to show that neither Navy nor the Independent Review Team have a clue about what they are doing. Finally a positive story about how Navy used to communicate in the days before they became a US-obsessed cult, unused to ever being questioned.
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Great podcast Kym. Spot on as usual.
Many thanks.
Kym, thanks as always for your tenacity, in light of mainstream media’s ongoing protection of AUKUS and vilification of European military hardware (French submarines and helicopters in particular), I implore you and the likes of Marcus Hellyer & Michael Shoebridge of Strategic Analysis Australia to join forces and challenge the most prominent AUKUS cheerleaders of your industry to a public debate, in order to forensically detail the multi billion tax dollar travesty that is Pillar 1 (Collins LOTE included) for the public record.
p.s could you also provide a link to the video you mentioned of Senator David Shoebridge questioning ASA Head, VADM Jonathon Mead.
Again many thanks for articulating the government & ADF’s escalating plunder of defenseless tax payers.
My pleasure – and I’ll try and find the video link in the Senate Estimates hansard.
Once again a very insightful Podcast, thank you Kim. How is possible for all this to be going on without any outcry from the opposition or the Media. I worked with a lot of people in the old DMO and the DoD and even though it was never a pleasant experience, I can say that there wasn’t anywhere near the level of incompetence and outright stupidity that is happening at the moment. The ADF once had credible Leadership and Departmental Support , it’s a tragedy that seems to be all gone.
I can explain all of that – as depressing as it is. The Opposition won’t say anything because: a) they never like criticising Defence; and b) AUKUS was their idea. The way most of the media works is by one side of politics getting stuck into the other. It’s lazy journalism, but this is the world that we live in. Unless the Opposition issues a couple of media releases and asks some questions in Parliament there’s a good chance the issue will be ignored. Also the days are long gone when people in the ADF and Defence had any sense of responsibility for how they are spending taxpayer’s money. The current Ministers responsible are totally clueless about what is going on under their noses.
This is a huge mess and I don’t see any way out, other than to keep plugging away.
Thanks for another revealing Podcast, much appreciated Kym.
The goat rodeo annoys me to no end.
The ANZAC class is 3600 tonnes, but the vessel we chose to replace it in 2018 was the Type 26 based Hunter class at 8000 tonnes (with some saying our changes have pushed the weight to 10000 tonnes).
Now, after having a Naval review we are looking at a General Purpose Frigate in, you guessed it, the 3000-4000 tonne range.
Madness.
Isn’t this just saying we failed to pick a sensible vessel in replacing the ANZAC class?
Why are we continuing with the under armed and over weight Hunter class?
Or is it just to buy our way into the AUKUS agreement, or perhaps we needed room for very comfortable and large chairs for our Admirals?
Whatever the answer we should acknowledge the failure of the original decision in 2018, and as mentioned by your good self many times Kym, take up the excellent offer from Luerssen.
Thanks Again
It’s hard to figure out what is going on. The Luerssen corvette is the only possible solution to the RAN’s short term needs but is being totally ignored.
Australia New Zealand Defender reporting Defence has stopped paying for the Arafura class Offshore Patrol Vessel program.
Have you heard anything Kym?
Yes, that’s correct. It came out in Senate Estimates that a stop payment has been imposed because of a support issue. I’m traveling at the moment but will try and find some more details.
For anyone interested in observing the ADF’s contempt for Australian tax payers, Senator Shoebridge’s questioning can be seen from 18:02 on the video’s time line…
https://www.aph.gov.au/News_and_Events/Watch_Read_Listen/ParlView/video/2510108
Thanks Mike. This should be compulsory viewing for all Australians to see the arrogance and incompetence of Australian Defence officials, led by VADM Mead, who most of the time appears clueless about many details. One of the most embarrassing performances by a senior official that I have ever seen.