Both the new Defence Minister Peter Dutton and new Attorney-General Michaelia Cash face challenges not tackled by their predecessors. Dutton and Cash will be forced to face the consequences of two massive government cover ups over the last decade.
Separately, the combination of Home Affairs Minister Karen Andrews and Skills Minister Stuart Robert must engineer a massive skills migration to Australia as well as the harnessing of under-utilised skills to overcome looming shortages.
With a US-China conflict an increasing danger, Dutton now has arguably the most important job in cabinet outside the Prime Minister and Treasurer. The Defence department has been covering up the deep problems with the F- 35 Joint Strike Fighter for more than a decade. Now that the some of the aircraft have been delivered, the long-predicted and deep operational problems with the JSF are there for all to see.
But the most serious potential JSF shortcoming has been revealed by the work of Air Power Australia which I set out last week.
The F-35 and its refuelling aircraft are vulnerable to Chinese and Russian aircraft which are operational at much higher altitudes than those at which the F-35 can comfortably fly.
Claims tested
To their credit, back in 2017, Defence undertook three scenario tests of Air Power’s conclusions. But Defence immediately placed the results into the top security classification bracket. American reports indicate that the Air Power conclusions were confirmed by the defence work and that’s why the results were kept secret.
But it is possible there was a different conclusion. Some of the incorrect comments by Defence officials to the parliament in recent years indicate that they were not informed of the results of the of the tests. It is even possible some Defence ministers did not know the results.
Dutton’s first step must be to demand access to that those tests. Opposition MPs must ask him if he has seen them. To interpret the results, Dutton may need outside advice because he can’t rely on the Defence people who were involved in the cover-up.
If, as is likely, the top-secret material shows that Australia is vulnerable to attack by superior Russian and Chinese aircraft, Dutton must begin working with the Americans and others to find a solution. There is no more important task in the government.
But that will lead him to the submarine project, which, JSF-style, is also being covered up. Sensibly, the Prime Minister has appointed a committee to look at the submarine project. But sadly he was snowed and on that committee are people who were deeply involved in the original decision to link with the French. It’s perfectly acceptable to listen to their views on the submarine contract but having them on the committee makes it look like it has been set up to endorse previous decisions.
Boatload of trouble
This project is too important to our nation’s future to be reviewed by the people who made the decision. That will lead the new Defence Minister to the problems of the frigates where we intended to buy an existing and proved a set of frigates that could take our radar system and the American combat system.
We chose the British frigate which had not been launched and it proved unsuitable for the US combat system and our radar. So we are now virtually designing a new frigate — exactly what we did not want to do. Another cover up will be required. .
Accordingly Australia has a commitment of $300 to $400 billion in these enormous high risk projects. Our defence equipment purchasing systems are clearly flawed. It is a sickening situation that Dutton inherits and he will need outside advice.
I also advise Dutton to listen to Rex Patrick’s interrogation of top defence officials because it will help him understand how the cover up extended not just to ministers but to the parliament.
Gold scandal
In the gold scandal, the Australian Tax Office allowed crooks to milk Australia’s gold GST revenue of billions before taking action.
But instead of chasing the crooks, the ATO decided to shut down almost all of Australia’s privately-owned gold refining industry. To destroy the industry they used horrendous methods and systems that the full Federal Court ruled were invalid. The ATO has appealed to the High Court on a section of the judgement but it does not affect the court’s basic conclusions.
The ATO now faces mammoth damages claims for the devastation it inflicted on Australian gold refining. The new attorney general must now consider whether to fight those claims or simply settle the mammoth amounts of damages that will be required to be paid.
Hopefully people in cabinet will realise that this has got to stop and proper appeal procedures are required. Meanwhile, in his forward estimates Josh Frydenberg must allow for big payouts as result of the invalid actions the ATO took to cover up its gold-GST mistake.
And finally around the nation companies operating in a wide variety of activities are facing skills shortages. And those shortages are going to get a lot worse. A lot of people with much needed skills are driving taxis or Ubers. They can fill some of the gaps but migration will be needed. A large number of people with skills want to come here.
The new Home Affairs Minister’s task will be to facilitate skills migration. The good news for Karen Andrews is that recent indications from Dutton’s office indicate that the public servants in Home Affairs understand the need for this new role.
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