Wayne Mapp MP
National Party Defence Spokesman

08 December 2006

Budget blowout on the cards

National's Defence spokesman, Wayne Mapp, is concerned a budget blowout could be on the cards, if there are delays to the Navy's Project Protector programme.

The $500 million upgrade project is supposed to deliver seven new ships in the next two and a half years. "Any hold-ups with the ships will probably mean an escalation in cost.

"Ballooning costs and budget blowouts are a familiar theme with the Labour Government. "Already this year the cost of replacing the Air Force's Iroquois helicopters spiralled to $771 million, despite a budget of $400-561 million to replace both the Iroquois and Sioux. "Adding a replacement for the Sioux trainers could well boost the cost even closer to the billion dollar mark."

ENDS

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