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October 30, 2026
Friday 30 October 2026
Andrew Greene
The West Australian
Defence has confirmed a “priority” investigation has started into whether sensitive information was leaked to The West after a report this week exposing concerns about looming cuts to military projects.
Officials at a Senate Estimates hearing have also revealed The West report contained information that was subject to a secretive new safeguard mechanism known as a “sensitive issues protocol” designed to stop classified breaches.
This week, The West detailed growing angst within the defence sector over possible defence program cuts and cancellations as the Federal Government looked for ways to fund the expensive AUKUS nuclear submarine plan.
“There has been a notification of a potential breach of obligations and so a notification has gone into our system and an investigation has commenced,” Department of Defence secretary Meghan Quinn told the Senate hearing.
“We have a process where if there is a suspected breach, there is a notification and then there’s an identification of whether there has or hasn’t been a breach and then investigation,” she added.
Under questioning from Greens leader David Shoebridge, Chief of Defence Admiral Mark Hammond also confirmed he was aware the matter was being investigated. “It’s an automatic process. If there is an allegation that someone inside the department has leaked information, there is a process that’s automatically triggered,” he said.
Vice-Chief of Defence Robert Chipman told the committee that a request fro an investigation into the alleged leaking of information had been initiated by the ADF’s Head of Force Design, Maj-Gen. Matt Pearse. “That form goes to Security and Estate Group and it is racked and stacked against their priorities. But we understand that it will be prioritised and will be an investigation launched from Security and Estate Group,” he said.
“It is simply a mechanism to ensure that we understand who is briefed into information so that if there is a leak then we can identify who’s had access to that information,” Air Marshal Chipman said when asked to describe the SIP.
Defence deputy secretary for governance John Reid told the committee the SIP procedures had been introduced by Defence two years ago and confirmed it had been used this year to protect information about budget planning for military projects.
“The sensitive issues protocol, it was developed around 2024. I don’t have to hand how many times it has been used. It’s used in a range of different ways to manage particularly sensitive matters across the department,” Mr Reid said.
Earlier, Defence officials also declared to the committee that cuts to military projects such as Hunter class frigates and infantry vehicles cannot be ruled out as the department continues to search for savings.
“We do a review of our budget on a regular basis. We review it at our defence committee every month, and there’s various other mechanisms,” Ms Quinn said.
“So, we are following our usual process in relation to looking at our budget and managing to meet budget rules and my PGPA (public governance, performance and accountability) responsibilities as the accountable officer,” she said.
Pressed by Liberal senator James Paterson on suggestions “nothing is off the table” as part of the budget process, Ms Quinn said: “We always review everything at all points in time.”
Just ahead of the hearing, Labor disclosed fresh details of its reprioritisation of the defence integrated investment program.