The Joint Committee of Public Accounts and Audit (JCPAA) has tabled an interim report for its inquiry into the Defence Major Projects Report (MPR) and the procurement of the Hunter Class Frigates. The Committee’s report examines issues relating to the cost, progress, technical attributes and governance of major Defence acquisitions raised in the 2020–21 and 2021–22 MPRs.
The Chair of the JCPAA, Mr Julian Hill MP said that “the report makes recommendations to address ongoing issues such as Defence not clearly reporting on capability milestones and its inconsistent approach to capturing lessons learned from past projects.”
“The Committee was also concerned about Defence’s 13 month delay in escalating the Civil Military Air Traffic Management System to the Projects of Concern list. There’s no point in having the ‘Projects of Concern’ system if there are delays of over a year in adding projects to the list which the Minister has decided are clearly off track. Doing so limits transparency to the Parliament and the public on the performance of major projects.”
Mr Hill said that “this inquiry’s next phase is to consider Defence’s procurement of the Hunter Class Frigates, as well as the scope and guidelines for Defence Major Project Reports to ensure that they are fit for purpose into the future.”
The Committee’s interim report and further information on the inquiry is available on the Committee website.
