Speaking in the Australian Senate on 9 March - the same day the reports surfaced in the Sydney Morning Herald - Faulkner said: "Media reports today do highlight concerns about a number of defence contracts and question whether the expenditure was legitimate."
Editor's note: While the SMH spreadsheet is a valuable tool, it fails to provide context for some of the items listed, nor does it provide a value for money comparison for other options.
$30,000 on Lear jets taken on its own sounds exorbitant but when the craft is used for the towing of aerial targets, rather than using a more expensive military craft, the amount is comparatively low.