The navy’s biggest ships are riddled with hundreds of defects and are failing to meet availability targets, as chiefs grapple with underfunded maintenance budgets and a lack of skilled engineers to keep the vessels at sea, according to a scathing audit report.
As the Albanese government comes under intense scrutiny to lift defence spending, the auditor-general aired internal concerns that the navy’s failure could shake American and British faith in Australia’s ability to operate nuclear-powered submarines.
