Liberal addiction to PPP's compromises defence

The Tory party has an addiction to the private sector. Sometimes it's possible to hide the crippling effects of addiction from those around you, sometimes when you go on a real bender the truth is obvious for all to see.

So it is with the recently discovered Howard era Bungendore defence facility. Defence media advises that this photo was taken at the "turning of the first sod" (no pun intended) at the facility. A recently discovered National Audit Office report has found that the government saved 0.4% on the project by going into a private public partnership agreement.

That's right, the Tories commitment to private public partnerships saved 0.4%, but only by substantially reducing the size of the facility.

This from the party who trumpets economic management and defence as their core business.


Whats more, the Howard government knew about this at the time because they were advised that compromising the plans of the facility by entering the PPP would save 4 million dollars only as a result of the fact they commissioned private consultants to audit it for them; a review that cost 14 million dollars (3.5 times the value of the "savings" achieved by reducing the size of the facility).

To compound the bungle, under the terms of the agreement, defence does not take full legal possession of the nations new defence HQ until 2036; in the meantime it makes annual payments to the private consortium which in the first year alone were valued at more than 39 million dollars.

The "first sod" on the facility cost defence ownership of the facility till 2036, compromised the plans for the facility and then spent 3.5 times the value of any savings they made to hear it.

Read the full debacle here.