A sham compliant deserves a sham inquiry:
Labor's review of Howard's fighters decision a sham
Philip Dorling
February 9, 2011
Labor's review of Howard's fighters decision a sham
THE official review used by federal Labor to justify its commitment to the multibillion-dollar US Joint Strike Fighter project was just a public relations exercise, according to comments by former defence minister Joel Fitzgibbon in secret talks with his American counterpart.
Mr Fitzgibbon candidly told US Defence Secretary Robert Gates in February 2008 that the Air Combat Capability Review of Australia's future air power he had announced a week earlier was driven by domestic politics and was unlikely to produce any result other than acquisition of the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter, marketed by Lockheed Martin.
According to US embassy cables obtained by WikiLeaks and provided exclusively to The Age, Mr Fitzgibbon made the admissions at a morning coffee session during the annual Australia-US Ministerial Meeting (AUSMIN) in Canberra.
He explained to Mr Gates that the newly elected Labor government would review the former Howard government's decisions to retire the ageing F-111 bomber fleet, pursue the acquisition of Joint Strike Fighters (JSFs) to replace the F-111s and FA-18 fighters, and purchase 24 Super Hornets, as a stopgap until the first F-35s were delivered.
In opposition, Labor had been critical of the Coalition's move to acquire the JSFs and had urged that Australia seek the lifting of a US Congressional export ban in order to acquire the more capable F-22 Raptor, once described by Defence Force chief Air Chief Marshal Angus Houston as ''the most outstanding fighter plane ever built''.
Labor repeatedly warned that likely delays and cost blowouts with the JSFs could compromise capability and Australia could ''end up getting into trouble''.
In January 2008 Mr Fitzgibbon reiterated Labor's intention to ''pursue American politicians for access to the Raptor''.
But the following month, at AUSMIN, Mr Fitzgibbon was quick to assure the US government that such statements had been merely ''political'' and Washington could be confident that the F-35 acquisition would proceed.
The US record of the discussion, approved by Mr Gates, says Mr Fitzgibbon ''expressed his opinion … that the review would likely not result in any decision other than to keep the JSF and continue with the Super Hornet purchase, explaining that the government felt it had to respond to Australian public's concerns that the previous government had not based these decisions on capability requirements but rather on political expediency.
''The Defence Minister stated that 'aircraft acquisition is now a topic of broad public discussion; every man in every hotel (bar) is talking about F-18 Super Hornets,' so the Labor government needs to do a public review,'' the discussion record said.
Mr Fitzgibbon's successor as defence minister, Senator John Faulkner, announced in November 2009 that the government had committed to placing a first order for 14 Joint Strike Fighters at a cost of $3.2 billion, with deliveries to begin in 2014.
The JSF program has since been the subject of development and testing delays, leading Mr Gates last month to express grave concern about skyrocketing costs and announce a big restructure of the program.
During the 2008 AUSMIN meeting, Mr Fitzgibbon sought reassurance that the JSF project was ''on track'', and explained to Mr Gates that Labor's pre-election commitment to pursue the acquisition of the F-22 Raptor would only involve a ''pro forma request''.
''As for the F-22, Minister Fitzgibbon stated he has to ask for political reasons and asked for guidance as to what to do,'' the US embassy reported.
Mr Gates noted that a congressional ban on the export of F-22s was ''unlikely to change anytime soon''.
US Defence Department officials later advised Mr Gates that Mr Fitzgibbon should write to the Pentagon about the F-22 rather than to Congress.
Mr Gates stressed ''the hope that a key decision factor would be for Australia to remain interoperable with the United States, and offered US assistance to the review efforts''. Other US embassy cables highlight Australia's importance as ''a large consumer of US defence hardware and technology'' and identify confirmation of the JSF acquisition as a key objective in the bilateral defence talks.
Immediately after the AUSMIN meeting, Mr Fitzgibbon told a press conference that Australia wanted ''the opportunity to consider the F-22''.
But the US embassy cable makes it clear Mr Gates believed there was little reason to devote much effort to ''a pro forma request regarding possible sale of the F-22 to respond to domestic pressures''.
The report of the Australian review team has not been released. But the May 2009 Defence White Paper foreshadowed the purchase of as many as 100 F-35 Joint Strike Fighters.
