Mr STEPHEN SMITH (Perth—Minister for Defence and Deputy Leader of the House) (09:46):
Mr Deputy Speaker, on indulgence: it has been announced this morning that the Chief Executive Officer of the Defence Materiel Organisation, Dr Stephen Gumley, will retire as the Chief Executive Officer of the Defence Materiel Organisation and from Defence. His retirement will take effect from today after more than 7½ years in one of the most difficult and challenging jobs in Canberra and in government. The Minister for Defence Materiel is in the chamber and he shares my view that Dr Gumley has done a very good job in difficult and challenging circumstances.
Dr Gumley became the CEO of the Defence Materiel Organisation in 2004, and in 2005 he oversaw the transformation of the DMO to a prescribed agency. The DMO is Australia's largest project manager, and in the course of his time as CMO Dr Gumley has presided over the implementation of significant reforms in the procurement area, most notably implementation of the Kinnaird and Mortimer reviews, and we are now seeing projects subject to those reforms improving in the range of 20 to 25 per cent so far as schedule slippage is concerned. Over his time in the DMO Dr Gumley has successfully managed the delivery of significant defence materiel to the Australia Defence Force including Super Hornets, Abrams tanks, Bushmasters and C 17s, and he has overseen Australia's involvement in the Joint Strike Fighter program.
Dr Gumley leaves the Defence Materiel Organisation, and the defence organisation itself, in a much stronger and better position than when he joined some 7½ years ago. The Minister for Defence Materiel and I thank him for his significant contribution, the government thanks him for his significant contribution and we wish him all the best for the future.
