Try telling that to the Tax Department....

With news today that the Australian Defence Department cannot adequately account for some inventory and "repairable items" worth a mere $3.9 billion, one has to wonder what sort of department former Minister Robert Hill, and now Brendan Nelson, are running.

As The Age reports:

"Days after the Defence Department launched an inquiry into fears that criminals have gained access to army shoulder-fired rocket launchers, the Auditor-General has found it cannot adequately account for inventory and "repairable items" worth $3.9 billion.

An annual investigation of government agencies by the Australian National Audit Office concludes that Defence has breached federal financial management controls.

The Auditor-General, Ian McPhee, also criticised the $8.7 billion Defence Materiel Organisation, the body responsible for managing defence equipment."

So, should the ATO knock on your door and you be unable to produce an elusive receipt or explain some transaction because the paperwork isn't readily accessible, you can always point to the Defence Department as your "defence" - in the truest and strictest sense of the word!!!

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