MINISTER FOR DEFENCE
STEPHEN SMITH, MP
TRANSCRIPT: DOORSTOP INTERVIEW, CANBERRA
TRANSCRIPTION: PROOF COPY E & OE
DATE: 15 FEBRUARY 2011
TOPICS: Defence industry
STEPHEN SMITH: These are significant challenges and we have to work together to address
them. That's why Minister Clare and I have announced that we're setting up an independent
review team chaired by Mr Rizzo to really come to grips with what I regard as longstanding
maintenance and sustainment problems with our amphibious fleet.
QUESTION: Is this specifically in Navy or does it extent to other areas of Defence?
STEPHEN SMITH: This is not a problem which we can limit or restrict to Navy by itself.
I've made the point, very many of these issues and challenges are of longstanding and we
have to work together to address them. That's not just Navy, it's not just the Defence Materiel
Organisation, it's also defence industry itself.
I've been very frank in my remarks today because we need to address these problems for the
future. One of the points I've made is that very many of these problems are problems that
have been in the system for a long period of time and they've come to light in the focus which
I've given them, in part because of some of the reforms we've already made, in particular the
reform by the Chief of Navy for the Seaworthiness Board and the Seaworthiness Board
reports which I've referred to.
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