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all slides, no show .....

all slides, no show .....

ben eltham writes …..

Defence Minister Brendan Nelson: shopaholic

When it comes to problem shoppers, one Australian is in a class of his own: our Defence Minister, Dr Brendan Nelson. There aren't too many of us wealthy enough to shell out $6 billion on a whim. Brendan Nelson is. And he's not afraid to slap the plastic down on the spur of the moment.

Exhibit A is the decision, late last year, to buy 24 Boeing Super Hornet jets at a cost to the taxpayer of $6 billion.

According to the RAAF, Australia doesn't need these jets. We know this because the top RAAF fly-boy, Air Vice-Marshal Geoff Shepherd, told a Senate hearing that an interim fighter plane is not needed to bridge the gap between the phase-out of the F-111s and the arrival of our even more expensive Joint Strike Fighters.

But just weeks after Shepherd said this, Brendan Nelson went ahead and bought the Super Hornets anyway.

Prodded by Labor's forensic John Faulkner, disturbing details are now emerging about the process (or the lack of it) behind this purchase.

The decision was made after a presentation by Nelson to the National Security Council. Accounts of the meeting vary. Some reports say Nelson presented a slide show about the jet based on Boeing sales material. Other reports say Boeing sales staff actually pitched.

Either way, the NSC meeting was apparently the first time that Australia's top brass – including Shepherd and Angus Houston – knew about the purchase. As Faulkner detailed to the Senate on Monday night, the RAAF wasn't even asked about whether it wanted the Super Hornets.

If they had, they probably would have told Nelson that the Super Hornets will be comprehensively out-flown by the new Sukhoi fighters Australia's neighbours are buying from the Russians. In fact, many experts (including the influential Carlo Kopp) think that even the Joint Strike Fighters will struggle in combat against the Sukhois.

None of this worried Brendan Nelson. Instead, he handed a massive fillip to Boeing Australia, particularly its departing President – a man by the name of Andrew Peacock.

The Auditor-General has announced there may be an investigation into the purchase – but not until after the next election.

grounded .....

The Opposition Leader, Brendan Nelson, has defended his championing as defence minister of the decision to order 24 Super Hornet aircraft at a cost of $6.6 billion in the face of a Rudd Government decision to reconsider the purchase. 

However, one of his own Liberal backbenchers, Dennis Jensen from Western Australia, last night welcomed a report in the Herald that the Super Hornets could be dumped as a result of the Government review of Australia's air power requirements. 

Dr Nelson backed buying the Super Hornets because of concerns over a capability "gap" between the intended retirement of the RAAF's 1970s vintage F-111s in 2010 and the delivery of F-35 Joint Strike Fighter aircraft, still under development, in 2013. 

"The F-111 capability could quite easily be increased and the issue of the airframe's life is not really prohibitive," Dr Jensen said. 

He said both the Super Hornets and the Joint Strike Fighter aircraft were inferior to Russian fighter aircraft being acquired by South-East Asian nations as well as China and India. 

Dr Jensen made it clear he hoped Labor's review would result in Australia instead acquiring F-22 Raptor aircraft. 

Nelson Stands By Jet Order 

perhaps our fly-by-night former defence minister, Brendan ‘bandit’ Nelson, was focused on a different mission a couple of months ago when 4Corners launched a pre-emptive attack against the quality of strategic defence thinking & decision-making, that had lead to orders being placed for both 100 Joint Strike Fighters ex Lockheed Martin ($16billion) & 24 Super Hornets ex Boeing ($6.6billion) …..

past sins .....

The Editor

Sydney Morning Herald                                                 January 1, 2008 

Could be that Opposition Leader, Dr Brendan Nelson, is in deep doodoo in trying to defend his decision, as Minister for Defence, to purchase 24 Super Hornet fighter aircraft from Boeing (‘Nelson stands by jet order’, Herald, January 1).   

Putting aside any embarrassment that the government’s review of the Air Combat Program might produce, Dr Nelson might face even more embarrassing questions about his remarkable procurement decision, if the Auditor-General decides to pursue an earlier mooted investigation into the affair? 

Whilst many Australians might be concerned about Dr Nelson’s qualifications to make such decisions, without finding it necessary to consult with the nation’s defence chiefs, the former President of Boeing’s Australian subsidiary & once Opposition Leader & Prime Ministerial aspirant, Andrew Peacock is unlikely to be one of them. 

John Richardson