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Marles was also asked if the department would drop any of the 28 projects that have blown out in delays. He said a review was underway.
Waste in defence ‘must come to a stop’: Marles
Marles is asked how the revelations on defence will impact the upcoming October budget, already under pressure amid cost of living strains and rising inflation.
What delays in the projects do is create capability gaps but there is the potential for financial implications as you try to find a resolution for those capability gaps.
We know that defence spending is increasing, we know it represents one of the medium to long-term pressures on the budget and what that long-term requires is the quality of spending needs to be excellent.
As for whether this would impact the government’s commitment to the stage-three tax cuts, Marles said “our position on tax is well known and our position has not changed since the election”.
I don’t think we could’ve been clearer than that, we’ve been making the point that the budget is under pressure … with rising inflation, every dollar of debt that has been left to us by the former government is costing more but it’s under pressure in particular areas of spend … defence is one of those rising costs [and] the waste that we’ve seen in defence must come to a stop.
Deputy prime minister Richard Marles is appearing on ABC RN discussing the defence shortfall of $6.5bn revealed today.
The government said 28 major projects were running behind schedule – or cumulatively 97 years late – including the Hunter Class frigates, offshore patrol vessels and the battlefield command system.
What it reflects is we’ve inherited a complete mess from the former government, a government very focused on announcements … when it came to the delivery of projects they were one of the worst government’s we’ve seen … it was all about talking, not about doing and what that’s resulted in is a combined 28 projects 90 years behind schedule.
Asked how Marles would get the delivery back on track, he said the government would “actively manage” the projects and “get back to basics”, citing monthly reports and objective criteria.
We just need that management, we need much better hands on management from government. This is a failure of the former government … we need to be focused on capability, we cannot afford capability gaps.
There remain more than 100 flood warnings in place across New South Wales, including 50 “Watch & Act” listings.
There were more than 1,000 calls for assistance over the weekend, while the ADF remains on call to assist the State Emergency Service. It’s been the busiest 12 months on record for the agency.
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The reprieve from rainfall in New South Wales will be short-lived as emergency services minister Steph Cooke warns the state to prepare for another lashing to hit from Wednesday.
Flood waters are still threatening lives, with a number of evacuation orders listed over the weekend forcing residents to flee their homes across the Lachlan and Hawkesbury rivers. Thousands of others are bracing to leave if ordered.
There were 28 rescues performed by the State Emergency Services in the 24 hours to Sunday afternoon, the majority for people who attempted to drive through flood waters. Cook warned the state not to “be deceived” by sunshine as rivers continued to rise.
Meanwhile, the federal government will today reveal defence projects have blown out by at least $6.5bn, placing even greater pressure on the upcoming budget. It says 28 major defence projects are running behind schedule – or cumulatively 97 years late – including offshore patrol vessels and the battlefield command system.
The findings have led the government to implement new reforms, requiring monthly reports and “early warning” rules to keep future projects on schedule.
In Covid news, Australians over 18 can get Moderna’s Omicron-specific Pfizer vaccine from today, three months after a previous vaccine or infection. The Australian Technical Advisory Group on Immunisation (Atagi) last month recommended the combined booster, which is comprised of vaccines against the original Sars virus and the Omicron subvariant.
Caitlin Cassidy here to guide you through today’s news. You can reach me on Twitter at @caitecassidy, or send me an email at [email protected]. Let’s get cracking.
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