Defence: Capital Works Projects

Senator Chris Evans asked the Minister for Defence, upon notice, on 20 May 2002:

1. Can the Minister confirm that in the 2002-03 Defence Budget $150 million of capital projects were deferred into the 2003-04 financial year.
2. Can a list be provided of the capital projects affected by this decision.
3. For each project, can the following information be provided: (a) the name of the project; (b) a brief description of the project; (c) the savings gained by the delay; (d) the extent of the delay, for example 12 months; (e) whether a contract had been signed with a contractor for this project; (f) if a contract has been signed, the name of the organisation that has been contracted; and (g) if a contract has not been signed, the stage the project has reached (for example, tender released, tender chosen).
4. If there are projects where a contract has been signed, can the Minister indicate how the delay will be allowed under the contract and whether there is any cost arising to the Commonwealth as a result of the delay.
5. If there are projects where a successful bidder has been chosen, can the Minister indicate whether the Commonwealth will be liable, given the expectations of the bidder, for any damages because of the delay.

Senator Hill - The answer to the honourable senator's question is as follows:

1. Yes.
2. and 3. Defence has undertaken an initial assessment of the indicative measures that would be required to accommodate this re-scheduling of expenditure. These indicative measures involve changes to the expenditure spreads of a number of not yet approved major capital equipment projects. It is departmental policy that detailed advice on spend spreads not be made publicly available for projects that are yet to go to contract.
4. and 5. The re-scheduling of capital expenditure from 2002-03 to 2003-04 will not affect any major equipment projects that are already in contract, or that have completed the tender selection stage.

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