asked the Minister representing the Minister for Defence Materiel, upon notice, on 19 December 2012:

With reference to questions on notice nos 1634 to 1683, dated 5 March 2012, and questions on notice nos 2570 to 2619, dated 26 November 2012, and given that this is the third occasion on which this information has been sought:

(1) Can full and detailed information be provided, including:

(a) the date of the first date for first pass approval;

(b) the date of the first estimated date, time period, for second pass approval;

(c) the date of first pass approval;

(d) the date of second pass approval;

(e) the estimated acquisition cost when first proposed to Government;

(f) the current estimated acquisition cost;

(g) the date of estimated initial operational capability when first proposed to Government;

(h) the current date of estimated initial operational capability; and

  (i) the reason(s) for the delay in this project, if applicable; in relation to each of the following major projects:

(2) Can a full and private briefing on these major projects be provided as a matter of urgency.

The Minister for Defence has provided the following answer to the honourable senator's question:

(1) and (2)

The information you are seeking would require considerable research into historical Defence Capability Plans and project approval/​management documents, and as such, is considered an unjustified diversion of resources. A full and private briefing on the projects listed is also considered an unreasonable diversion of resources.

Publicly available documents such as the Public Defence Capability Plan (http://www.defence.gov.au/​publications/​CapabilityPlan2012.pdf), Portfolio Budget Statements (http://www.defence.gov.au/​budget/) and the Defence Annual Report (http://www.defence.gov.au/​annualreports/) provide some detail on the information being sought.