Australia’s troubled $45 billion fleet of new frigates is facing a significant cost blowout and fresh delays, the auditor-general has warned in a scathing report slamming the Defence Department for failing to properly consider whether taxpayers were getting value for money.
The long-awaited Australian National Audit Office report has cast fresh doubt on the future frigate program, with a top-level review of the navy’s surface fleet that will examine slashing the number of ships on order.
