‘A senior defence official has raised doubts about whether
the government may be able to recover taxpayer money lost if a $1 billion navy
helicopter project is scrapped.

Defence Minister Brendan Nelson
has revealed the government is considering axing the Super Seasprite project
and suing the contractors after the fleet was grounded on safety grounds. 

The Australian navy bought 11 of
the helicopters from US defence contractor Kaman Aerospace for $1 billion in
1997, but the Seasprites have been plagued by technical problems and have never
been fully operational.’ 

Government
May Lose $1Billion On Seasprite Project 

Considering the Howard
government’s passion for outsourcing services & abrogating its
responsibilities, along with numerous discredited political luminaries such as
Reith & Hill, why not ask New Zealand to manage our defence procurement
needs? 

Putting to one side its embarrassing success in
bringing its fleet of Seasprite helicopters to full military service without
incident, New Zealand has demonstrated a clear capacity to independently find
its way in international affairs, without slavishly suborning its national
interests & identity to Washington & its carpetbagger military
contractors, whilst still finding time to teach us how to play rugby. 

No fake Awards for statesmanship; no FTA; no
intelligence scandals; no involvement in illegal foreign military adventures
& no slick photo-ops for ambassadorial Rottweilers parading their
superficial political masters: just getting the basics right. 

The enemy is alive & well in Canberra.