MP blasts F-35 jet deal
WA Liberal backbencher Dennis Jensen has suggested senior Defence Department officials backed the Joint Strike Fighter program after receiving "largesse" from military contractors.
And Dr Jensen has blasted the coalition's Budget cuts to the CSIRO, while questioning the merits of Prime Minister Tony Abbott's $20 billion medical research fund. In an extraordinary speech to Parliament last night, Dr Jensen said he was aware of "influence peddling" by defence contractors with both Defence personnel and some journalists.
Dr Jensen, a long-time critic of the F-35 program, said senior military officers who provided advice to the Government on big defence contracts should be forced to publish a personal interests register.
