Exclusive: Government was warned that publicising issues could harm regional relationships or be exploited by criminals or bad actors
The opposition’s defence spokesperson, Andrew Hastie, said Marles had “serious questions to answer as to why he went against official advice” and instead struck “a partisan and damaging tone in his comments”.
Marles and Conroy were approached for comment. Responding on behalf of the government, Conroy confirmed on Sunday that the government had “consulted Pacific governments before our public statements and are continuing to work closely with them on remediating the patrol boats”. The department secretary raised concerns about “recurrent defects on a number of the 15 vessels delivered to date, the most recent being a significant design fault with the engine exhaust system”.
Moriarty added: “The ongoing issues regarding design and build quality across the Guardian-class patrol boats are of great concern to Defence, most notably the reputational risk it poses as a result of perceptions of Australia providing a poor quality capability and/or service for our Pacific partners.”
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