Amphibian probe reveals serious deficiencies

Press, 8 March 1984, Page 9

Amphibian probe reveals serious deficiencies

NZPA-AAP Canberra The Australian Defence Department has been “severely censured” for serious deficiencies and mismanagement uncovered by a Federal Parliamentary committee probe into the construction of the Royal Australian Navy’s amphibious heavy-lift ship Tobruk. The ship is due at Lyttelton today for an exercise with the New Zealand Army. The joint Parliamentary Public Accounts Committee report on the Tobruk project, tabled in Parliament, listed 63 conclusions and 33 recommendations after a series of hearings beginning in March, 1982.

One recommendation seeks increased compensation for the family of a Navy cadet, aged 14, who died after an incident aboard the ship in 1981. Among the issues covered by the report were: • The fact that the Tobruk left Carrington’s shipyard, Newcastle, in April, 1981, almost 300 tons or 9 per cent over specification.

• The department’s poorquality assurance and grossly inadequate on-site representation at the shipyard. • The Tobruk’s inoperable davit hoist system for her landing craft. • Several alleged serious design faults including a

lack of watertight integrity after damage.

• Substantial deficiencies in the department’s over-all approach to project management.

The committee’s chairman, Senator George Georges (Lab., Queensland) said in tabling the report that the committee was concerned about the variety of serious problems revealed during its inquiry. “The committee questions the failure of the department to rectify technical problems which emerged during the project. The committee would not have expected the department to have mismanaged the acquisition of a major piece of equipment,” he said.