The Federal Opposition claims new figures reveal only 16 out of 54 ships in the Royal Australian Navy were fully crewed and operational in the first six months of 2010.
Shadow Defence Minister, senator David Johnston, said in a news release on 10 February that Defence released a breakdown of the “sorry state” of the Navy’s fleet after he put a series of questions on notice in July 2010 which were not answered until eight months later.
Senator Johnston said although he was aware there were some problems with particular submarines and ships he was shocked to find out the extent of the crewing gaps and the general state of disrepair.
“These operational figures are completely unacceptable for what is globally thought to be a world-class Navy and it is now obvious that a series of Defence Ministers have failed to grasp the extent of this crisis or worse, have ignored it to avoid electoral embarrassment,” senator Johnston said.