Page 17 - Australian Defence Magazine Sep 2021

SEPTEMBER 2021 | WWW.AUSTRALIANDEFENCE.COM.AU
DEFENCE BUSINESS RETROSPECTIVE 17
Defence Ministers come and go through governments from both sides of the house during this time. Apparently, this is not ‘normal’ historically but normal is what you get used to.
I developed a rather sad addiction to Senate Estimates upon my move to Canberra to take up the Editor’s chair in 2008. The spectacle of Question Time held no interest de- spite the occasional mention of Defence in there. Estimates however was a masterclass (or cringeworthy exercise) in public service/departmental sparring with politicians that provided endless material to supplement stories. Questions that were not answered by the department or industry in media requests had to be answered in this forum.
My favourite moment from all these interactions is still then-Rear Admiral Greg Sammut as head of the submarine program patiently explaining to Senator Hanson that sub- marines can be underwater for more than 20 minutes at
a time with a complete lack of eye rolling. A heroic effort. I don’t think Tony Dalton has ever really forgiven me for comparing him to Yes, Minister’s Sir Humphrey during one of his Estimates outings.
There have been so many instances during my time with ADM where I have been blown away by the generosity of those in the community in sharing their knowledge and experiences. I have spent endless hours sitting in meeting rooms, both in Australia and overseas, learning about air in- dependent propulsion, the difference between generations of aircraft and what that means for stealthy operations in the networked battlespace, and how tanks will always be needed.
ABOVE: BAE Systems at Henderson during an ASMD site tour.
ALL IMAGES CREDIT: KATHERINE ZIESING