$175bn Pyne takes more dough

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Via the ABC:

Christopher Pyne’s new job has put his old boss, Scott Morrison, under pressure to reprimand him amid accusations it is a breach of ministerial standards.

Mr Pyne, who was defence minister until the election, yesterday revealed he has taken a job as a defence consultant with multinational business advisers EY.

“I am looking forward to providing strategic advice to EY, as the firm looks to expand its footprint in the defence industry,” Mr Pyne said in a statement.

But Centre Alliance senator Rex Patrick has called on the Prime Minister to reprimand Mr Pyne for taking the position, which he argues breaches the Statement of Ministerial Standards.

It states that for 18 months after they leave office, former ministers “will not lobby, advocate or have business meetings with members of the Government … on any matters on which they have had official dealings as minister”.

It also says ministers cannot “take personal advantage of information to which they have had access as a minister, where that information is not generally available to the public”.

“I think what he’s done does breach the code and I think this becomes a test for the Prime Minister,” Senator Patrick told AM.

“It becomes a test for his conviction towards his own statement of ministerial standards.

Senator Patrick said Mr Morrison should urgently call Mr Pyne.

“And if he gets nowhere he should direct Defence and other government agencies to cease awarding any contracts to EY until the 18-month time period specified in his ministerial standards has expired,” Senator Patrick said.

He added there was “no question” EY took on Mr Pyne because of his insider knowledge.

“This will raise probity issues with other companies rightfully concerned with the advantage EY now has,” Senator Patrick said.

“I’m of the view Mr Pyne would not pass on any sensitive information, but he can’t unknow what he knows when he’s forming up advice to give EY.”

Professor John Wanna of Australia National University told AM large business consultancies were targeting government defence spending as a source of revenue growth.

“Defence is the largest Commonwealth procurement program and so this is where there is ample amounts of money, it is multi-year money,” he said.

But he added the Statement of Ministerial Standards was difficult to enforce properly.

“Though the wording is that they can’t lobby and they can’t divulge information, nothing stops them from working with others, in this case Ernst and Young, to advise them on what they should be saying when they go and lobby.”

The ABC contacted Mr Morrison’s office to ask if he thought Mr Pyne had breached ministerial standards.

A spokesman said the rules were clear around what ministers could do when they retire and referred the ABC to Mr Pyne’s statement.

The history of this is equally appalling. Recall from defense expert Brian Toohey three years ago:

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…everything is wrong about the Turnbull government’s decision to build 12 extremely large submarines in Adelaide.

…The government’s refusal to go with an off-the-shelf design will cost more billions, because the first of new submarines won’t be operational until after 2030 and the last until almost 2060.

This means the decrepit Collins class submarines will have to be kept going for more than 20 years beyond their planned 2025 retirement date – necessitating new capital spending and very high maintenance and operating costs that will soon pass $1 billion a year.

Bizarrely, the Turnbull government has decided that the Adelaide shipyard, which built the six Collins submarines, will now build 12 much bigger submarines and nine frigates that will be far larger than the existing Anzac class, which has served the nation well.

The new frigates will be even bigger than the three air warfare destroyers that the shipyard is building now. These are late and over budget, yet the government trusts this shipyard to build submarines costing $50 billion and frigates about $35 billion.

Where were Scott Morrison and Mathias Cormann when this decision was taken? The government’s estimates of the added costs of local construction shows it will take more than $20 billion more simply to try to win a couple of Coalition seats in Adelaide.

$20bn extra for Chris Pyne’s seat? Phewy. Try $175bn, at the AFR today:

The Turnbull government’s hopes of getting Senate backing for a fresh wave of company tax cuts continue to sink, with a key crossbencher warning they are becoming unaffordable because of the ballooning cost to build and operate 12 new submarines.

Centre Alliance Senator Rex Patrick – one of the key swing votes the government is wooing – told The Australian Financial Review it was “impossible” for him to agree to the plan to slash the corporate tax rate for businesses with a turnover of more than $50 million a year while the final price tag for the submarines remained unknown.

Seizing on official figures obtained through the Senate committee process as well as independent analysis, Senator Patrick, a former submariner, said the cost of building and sustaining the 12 French-designed submarines may ultimately reach $200 billion over their life.

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In any other country, this is called corruption.

About the author
David Llewellyn-Smith is Chief Strategist at the MB Fund and MB Super. David is the founding publisher and editor of MacroBusiness and was the founding publisher and global economy editor of The Diplomat, the Asia Pacific’s leading geo-politics and economics portal. He is also a former gold trader and economic commentator at The Sydney Morning Herald, The Age, the ABC and Business Spectator. He is the co-author of The Great Crash of 2008 with Ross Garnaut and was the editor of the second Garnaut Climate Change Review.