Back in May, the Department of Defence told a Senate estimates hearing that Australia’s new submarine fleet is expected to cost $90 billion, a 12% increase on the previous estimate of $80 billion in November.
The Australian’s Robert Gottliebsen has today slammed the submarines program, arguing that the Defence Department has been ‘captured’.
According to Gottliebsen, the Department put itself in a position where it did not have the option of either cancelling the project or going to an alternative bidder. Gottliebsen also claims either Defence Minister Senator Linda Reynolds or Foreign Minister Senator Marise Payne have misled parliament over the true cost of the submarines:
