Minister for Defence - Statement on ANAO report

Under the Morrison Government’s more than $200 billion investment in Defence capability, we are seeing a record rejuvenation of Defence capability including building 57 naval vessels in Australia, modernising our Army, and introducing a world-leading fifth generation Air Force.

The Major Projects Report released by ANAO confirms that within the 2018-19 review period, Defence’s 26 major projects continued to deliver strongly against measures of scope and cost.

The reported increase in the cost of delivering these projects over the past year was purely a consequence of the fluctuating rate of the Australian Dollar and price indexation during this period.

We have robust policies in place to ensure that our Australian Defence Force gets the capability they need, while also delivering value for money for Australian taxpayers.

This stands in stark contrast to Labor’s record when last in Government where Defence was a casualty of their inability to manage money. We saw $18 billion cut from the Defence budget, seeing investment in Defence investment fall to the lowest level since 1938, causing 170 projects to be delayed, reduced in scope, or cancelled altogether.