Defence misleads governments. We need a royal commission

How many times will politicians have to learn that the Ministry of Defense routinely misled them, made its own terrible judgment rather than departmental control, and made the most basic mistakes before they can act to clean up the mess?

As expected, last week the government’s decision to significantly reduce the scope (and double the price) of the “type life extension” (LOTE) program for Collins-class submarines was announced to distract attention from another hugely embarrassing Defense review by the auditor general.