Govt business unable to reveal profit

24 May 2012, 6:50 pm   -   Source: AAP

The boss of the government-owned business that maintains the naval fleet has been unable to tell a Senate committee how much profit a key project makes.

The federal government-owned enterprise that builds and maintains Australia's naval fleet has not been able to tell a Senate budget estimates committee how much profit it makes on a key project.

Australian Submarine Corporation managing director Stephen Ludlam had to take on notice a question from Liberal senator David Johnston about how much profit the enterprise had made through its Air Warfare Destroyer project.

"You don't know, or you want to check it?" asked a surprised Senator Johnston, who thought this would have been exactly the sort of number that would be readily available for the hearing.

Finance Minister Penny Wong stepped in, as the government's representative at the hearing, saying she didn't know whether this was a figure to be released publicly.

She reiterated the question would be taken on notice.

"I thought it would have been public figure as this is a government business enterprise," Senator Johnston said.

"I thought it would be undeniably an amount that this committee would want to have put on the table."

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