Skye Kakoschke-Moore (SA, Nick Xenophon Team) Share this | Hansard source

My question is to the Minister for Defence. With total contract values adding up to $32.7 billion for the last financial year, Defence is by far the largest procuring agency in the Commonwealth. According to AusTender, in financial year 2012-13, 51 per cent of all procurements were sought by way of limited tender. Limited tenders are tenders where the number of vendors that can respond to the tender are limited, sometimes to only one company. In 2013-14, the percentage was also 51 per cent. In 2014-15, the number started climbing to 53 per cent. In financial year 2015-16, it skyrocketed to 65 per cent. In the last financial year, the percentage was even higher, with 67 per cent of all Defence procurement, totalling $15.2 billion, sought by limited tender. What analytics has the minister carried out in respect of this dramatic rise in the use of limited tender, and what is the reason for it?