Madam Chairman, the minister might want to start with environment appropriate camouflage.
The minister has repeatedly told the House that he expected the first of the new maritime helicopters in 2005. However we have a February 2001 memo which was passed to the minister by his assistant deputy minister of material which shows that he was told in early 2001 that the delivery date for the new helicopters had slipped to the end of 2006. The memo said “the target date for delivery of the first maritime helicopter has shifted from the end of 2005 to the end of 2006”.
That memo was passed to the minister on March 7, 2001. Did that affect the minister in what he was saying publicly? It did not.
On March 14, in the press, he said “Our aim is 2005”.
In Hansard , on March 16, 2001, he said “I am still hopeful that we could have them by the end of 2005”.
In Hansard , on November 27, 2001, he said “We will be looking to get the replacement for Sea Kings by the end of 2005”.
Why did the minister of defence tell parliament that the date was still 2005 when he knew that was not correct?