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Another day, another expensive consultancy contract comes to light, surfacing like a nuclear submarine from the depths of our government's addiction to outsourcing public service work to the private sector.
It's alarming enough that the $8.4 million contract was stitched up with EY, one of the big four consultancies in the spotlight after the PwC-taxation scandal. It's unsettling, too, that this latest contract to surface relates to the AUKUS program. It was to design a safety regulator for the nuclear sub project. But the real clanger - which should raise red flags across the land - was that the Minister for Defence Industry, Pat Conroy, knew nothing about it. Oops.
While it might make sense for Defence to seek the help of a consultancy with experience in nuclear energy - EY has worked with a number of nuclear energy companies around the world - that a key minister was left in the dark at a time when outsourcing is a political hot potato beggars belief.
And coming just days after the Labor national conference, where that same minister likened anyone standing in the way of AUKUS to pre-war (read: Pig Iron) Bob Menzies or Neville Chamberlain, the revelation adds insult to embarrassment.
If this Keystone coppery is an indication of what's to come with this expensive, multi-generational procurement, the bill at the end of the day is likely to run well over the $368 billion we've been quoted. And yet - thanks to this curious sacred cow called bipartisanship on defence and national security - we, the Australian voters, never had a say in it. As long as the two major political groupings hold onto their power duopoly, we're unlikely to.
That means today's Gen Z, when they're paunchy and grey and struggling to ensure their Millennial parents have adequate aged care, will be grumbling over the bill for a project the Prime Minister says will allow Australia to "take its rightful place on the world stage". (Anyone else pick up the echo from Bernard von Bulow, the German chancellor who told the Reichstag in 1897: "We do not want to put anyone into the shade, but we demand a place for ourselves in the sun"?)
By then Albanese will be long gone. So will Xi Jinping. "The world as it is", as the PM thundered when he shut down debate at the Labor national conference, will have changed too. But what will remain is the bill for a complex project agreed to by a tiny group of Labor front-benchers in opposition just 24 hours after it was presented to them.
The very least we can expect from the ministers involved in this vast exercise is that they're informed every step of the way about how our money is being spent.
HAVE YOUR SAY: Should we have signed up to AUKUS? Do you expect the cost of nuclear subs will exceed the amount we've been quoted? Will the nuclear powered subs make us any safer? Is there a better way of spending that money? Email us: echidna@theechidna.com.au
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IN CASE YOU MISSED IT:
- A more productive economy will be "front and centre" in the impending intergenerational report, Treasurer Jim Chalmers says. Dr Chalmers will unveil the full report on Thursday, providing insight into how the Australian economy and society will change over the next 40 years.
- Travellers may need to brace for sky-high ticket prices as airlines attempt to cut their emissions. Virgin Australia chief of corporate affairs Christian Bennett says the path to a cleaner carbon footprint will come at a cost. Sustainable jet fuel is the "slingshot" to net-zero because it produces 80 per cent less pollution than conventional options. But the environmentally friendly fuel is two-to-five times more expensive than commercial jet fuel because is it not produced in Australia.
- Qantas has been hit with a class action lawsuit seeking millions of dollars in refunds and compensation for customers who had flights cancelled following the COVID outbreak. Echo Law filed the lawsuit against Australia's national carrier in the Federal Court, alleging the airline misled customers about their refund options, withheld funds, and engaged in a "pattern of unconscionable conduct".
THEY SAID IT: "Deterrence itself is not a preeminent value; the primary values are safety and morality." - Herman Kahn
YOU SAID IT: If the national conference was any indication, the Labor of old, which thrashed out policy issues with passion and fireworks, is long gone. The light on the hill is flickering.
"The ALP is not at the centre," writes David. "Cathy Wilcox's cartoon a week or so ago (Parliament draped with the banners of PwC, Deloitte etc, under the heading 'Under New Management'), said it all. We do effectively live in a plutocracy and the ALP is a centre-right government with the emphasis on the right. Corporate influence is an established fact (they've got a voice) and the workers are left scrabbling to make ends meet. The relative egalitarianism we experienced up to the 1970s is very much a thing of the past."
Rob writes: "Not just Labor, the Coalition too, has lost the vision that used to 'drive' politics. Both have been dumbed down by the decline in membership and the disengagement of the masses. And you (the media) can't have it both ways when it comes to boring ALP public events. With the increased focus on politics the 24-hour news cycle and the exaggerated reporting of any dissent, the public image is carefully managed so that party unity is preserved. Gone are the days of Labor blood-letting fueled by big egos and blind ideology. The major parties both have become bland and as a consequence now only command about 30 per cent each of the primary vote. We will soon enter a long term of minority governments in coalition with minor parties."
"Gee, ease up a bit on the government, will you?" writes Anne. "Just consider what things were like two years ago, and the almighty mess in every single area of government. It's a Herculean task changing it and it's underway. If you want instant gratification look at something else."
Christopher writes: "You'd have to be rusted-on impenetrably, and amoral to boot, to believe this mob is better than their right-wing buddies in the LNP. Their shrugging-off of the emergencies we face all round us now in favor of pointless alliance with the United States of Insanity is mind-blowing."
"The ageing Harry Potter image is going to stick with me for a long time. Brilliant!" writes Sue. "Unfortunately, Albo doesn't have a strong public persona, let alone the magic. We haven't had much personality in our PMs for a while now. Some people may think Howard had some, but I found him bland. Bland was Kevin's middle name, wasn't it? Julia raised the bar but not for long. Abbott? Well, he made a lot of noise, and I would rather not comment, again, on ScoMo. So Labor may have lost its mojo but the Liberals have lost seats to the Teals and don't look like reclaiming them."
Mark writes: "Of course Wayne Swan just waved the AUKUS numbers through - you wouldn't ask him to count. And, yes, the conference was extremely boring and there was no passion to get us fence-sitters excited."
And from Daniel: "Ha ha, Echidna! You got me laughing straight out of the blocks this morning - 'as interesting as a hospital meal'. Brilliant! I'll be using that one. On the Labor talkfest, yep they're in the centre-left. The Liberal-National coalition are at the centre-right. This is all good, of course. Better than being like Russia, the US and many other places who drift too far off the happy equilibrium."