Antinuclear

NACC handed naval contracts corruption case back to Defence

Not the first time NACC has asked Defence to investigate itsel

Former senior naval officer to face general court martial in Canberra in September

Michelle Fahy, Jul 29, 2026, https://undueinfluence.substack.com/p/nothing-to-see-here-says-australia

Last week, reports from The Nightly and the ABC revealed details of a case involving a recently retired senior naval officer facing a court martial on eight separate charges relating to naval sustainment contracts at the Henderson shipyard near Perth.

Further details emerged over the weekend that the defence department had initially referred the matter to the National Anti-Corruption Commission but the watchdog handed the case back to Defence. (See non-paywall version.)

A NACC spokesperson said:

As it is now in the public domain, we confirm that the Department of Defence did refer this matter to the Commission in compliance with their mandatory reporting obligations under the National Anti-Corruption Commission Act 2022.

Beyond this, it is not appropriate for us to comment further as this matter is subject to suppression orders.

The NACC would not say whether it was continuing its own separate investigation into the matter.

Defence minister Richard Marles told the ABC he thought the court martial process was “appropriate”, but refused to comment further

Court martial proceedings set for September

The ADF’s chief judge advocate, Major General Michael Cowen KC, has issued a non-publication order suppressing the accused person’s name, saying the person should be referred to only by the pseudonym, “star ranked officer in the Royal Australian Navy, Officer Brown”. ‘Star ranked’ refers to the top ranks of the navy and includes admirals, vice-admirals, rear-admirals and commodores.

A five-day pre-trial hearing was held at HMAS Stirling naval base in Western Australia in June. Another pre-trial hearing is scheduled to start on September 1 at a military facility in Canberra. The court martial is set to commence at the same facility on September 14, running for up to six weeks.

Figures familiar with the allegations told The Nightly last week that due to the seniority of the accused it was initially difficult to find senior officers to take part in the court martial who were not conflicted. Those figures also said the case will examine interactions between the government’s former weapons-buying group – Capability and Sustainment Group (CASG) – and several large companies who completed sustainment projects at Henderson shipyard.

It is unclear exactly when the alleged wrongdoing took place. The Nightly reported that the activity under investigation occurred during the previous Coalition government, before the Albanese government took power in 2022.

Not the first time NACC has asked Defence to investigate itself

In late 2024, Undue Influence reported on another known defence-related corruption matter where, having received a referral from Defence, the NACC sent the matter back to Defence for investigation. That matter related to a billion-dollar munitions factory contract between Defence and the Australian subsidiary of French multinational arms-maker Thales. Defence said it was “unable to substantiate the allegation”. The NACC has made no further statements on the Thales matter and it is unclear whether it remains under investigation.

‘Nothing to see here’ says Australia as third Thales corruption case starts globally https://undueinfluence.substack.com/p/nothing-to-see-here-says-australia

July 30, 2026 Posted by Christina Macpherson | secrets and lies | Leave a comment