The Department of Defence will not commit to briefing the opposition on major project decisions that the Morrison government may have made secretly prior to the launch of the election campaign.
The stance has led the opposition to claim the government may have already signed off on a series of defence-related decisions “which are banked up but not yet public”, essentially saving them for the campaign period.
The prime minister, Scott Morrison, is expected to call the election within days. The Coalition is eager to make national security a major theme in its pitch to voters, with Morrison arguing the world faces “uncertain times” and it is not a time for “weakness”.
The acting secretary of the Department of Defence, Matt Yannopoulos, agreed at a Senate estimates hearing on Wednesday that defence capability decisions should not be driven by politics.
But he relied on a strict reading of caretaker conventions that government decisions could be made before the campaign begins and announced during it without requiring opposition consultation.
Yannopoulos said if there was a “a major capability change or the need for a government decision” to be taken during the campaign period itself, “we would brief the opposition in accordance with the caretaker conventions”.
But when asked whether the department intended to brief the opposition on decisions already taken, but not yet announced, prior to potential public announcement during caretaker mode, Yannopoulos replied: “No.”
Pressed on the reason for not doing so, he added: “Because the government has taken those decisions prior to the caretaker period. We’re not in caretaker yet.”
Labor’s Senate leader, Penny Wong, said the public had a right to know if there were “secret capability decisions” that the government was holding off for an election campaign.
Yannopoulos said he would “need to seek some advice” from the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet (PM&C) “in terms of the way I’m interpreting the caretaker conventions”, but his understanding was that “we can brief on processes of government”.
The caretaker period begins at the time the House of Representatives is dissolved and, by convention, governments avoid making major policy decisions that are likely to commit an incoming government.
If such a major policy decision needs to be made during the caretaker period, “the minister would usually consult the opposition spokesperson beforehand”, according to the official guide.
But there is a gap in the conventions where decisions have already been made prior to the start of the campaign, but are announced during it.
“However, where possible, decisions should be announced ahead of dissolution if their announcement is likely to cause controversy, which may distract attention from the substantive issues in the election campaign,” the PM&C guide adds.
At Wednesday’s committee hearing, the Labor senator Tim Ayres said the public should brace for the Coalition to make a “set of political announcements” on defence during the campaign.
Ayres asked whether a decision on air warfare destroyers had been taken but not yet announced, following a report in The Australian that the Spanish shipbuilding company Navantia was pitching to build three more within a decade.
Yannopoulos made clear that Defence had “not prepared any advice on what has been reported in the media today” and he believed it would be “highly unlikely” that the government would announce it without taking advice.
“They would need the expertise of our organisation and our capability acquisition expertise. I can’t be clearer than that: we have not done that work, but we are in a unique time in the Australian cycle when there is a lot of speculation,” he said.
Asked whether political considerations should drive defence capability decisions, Yannopoulos said: “No.”
Later in the hearing, Yannopoulos appeared open to a more general briefing process.
Wong suggested it would be reasonable for the shadow defence minister, Brendan O’Connor, to have a pre-election consultation with the department in which officials could be asked about “machinery” and “administrative matters, including the procurement framework”.
In response to this broader suggestion, the department secretary replied: “Yes.”
Aukus pact grows
The exchange follows an announcement early on Wednesday morning that Australia, the US and the UK would collaborate on hypersonic missile technologies under the Aukus banner.
Labor has pledged bipartisan support to the Aukus partnership, under which the US and the UK will also help Australia to acquire at least eight nuclear-propelled submarines. But the first of those submarines are not expected to be ready until the late 2030s.
Morrison told reporters on Wednesday cyber was “part of modern warfare” and that was why the government had committed $10bn over 10 years in last year’s budget for the so-called Redspice program.
However, it has been revealed that the government has scrapped a $1.3bn program to buy armed drones to partly offset Redspice.
Under the now-cancelled SkyGuardian program, Australia had planned to acquire up to 12 armed drones for a range of purposes including surveillance.
Vice Adm David Johnston, the vice chief of the Australian defence force, confirmed Australia did not have any armed drones, but argued that type of capability “can be mostly replicated through other means”.
Until the cancellation, Johnston said, Defence had been “continuing the development” of the SkyGuardian program and its “expectation” was that it would probably advance to the next stage.
But he said the scrapping was “a result of a decision to prioritise a cyber capability and we needed to determine the funding to achieve that”.
