Records of purchases made by the Defence Force were described by auditors last year as "inaccurate". Now, following questions from the Sun-Herald, Defence Minister Marise Payne has ordered a review into the way the ADF buys its instruments. RMIT Professor of Human Security and International Diplomacy Joseph Siracusa, who has looked at military budgets for 43 years, said the ADF spending half a million dollars on items listed in Austender simply as "musical instruments" made him sceptical. "I work with a lot of former armed services people and I cannot believe the armed services would be this frivolous," Professor Siracusa said. "Somebody's ripping somebody off here. It's not like Australia is at the Royal Tattoo every year, it's not that kind of band. "I come from Chicago and if you had a story about the police department spending $4 million on musical equipment you'd have the FBI investigating the place in the morning." The Sun-Herald spoke to several suppliers of instruments to the ADF and was told that the standard of gear they were buying was equivalent to that sold to the Melbourne and Sydney Symphony orchestras.

While the ADF jammed on $95,000 worth of electric guitars, the Australian National Audit Office (ANAO) has repeatedly voiced concerns. Last year a total of $47.4 billion worth of contracts were added to Austender's database, with ADF deals making up about 70 per cent of that. In December 2017, a heavily redacted audit report into Austender found "appropriate records and documentation were not retained" and decision-making about procurement was neither transparent nor accountable. In another 2017 audit, only 41 of 155 contracts examined were correctly reported to Austender. "Inaccuracies in contract dates, contract values, procurement method, and categories of procurement" were found by ANAO in 2017. The Sun-Herald investigation revealed defence tenders for flights with QANTAS dated January 1900, an $11,466 contract with Cabcharge to provide "spaceships" and a $10,473 contract for "production of 2011 defence fast facts" that ends in 5011. Deputy chairman of the public accounts and audit committee of federal parliament, Julian Hill, said value for money, lack of competitive processes and probity concerns are ongoing issues with government procurement and "the same sloppy practices just keep happening".

For example, at a recent inquiry into sourcing an air traffic control system, the Labor MP said one public servant described the "complete lack of documentation" as rather "porous record keeping". "My concern is that the culture and the systemic concerns, which just keep on happening, are not being addressed seriously and sufficiently by the government," Mr Hill said. "Procurement needs to be thought of much more clearly as a professional capability in major agencies and not something that every public servant should be doing." Federal public accounts and audit committee chairman Liberal senator Dean Smith said scrutinising government expenditure is "the highest priority of the parliament". "The view of the Australian taxpayer is a simple one: it wants government to do only the things that are absolutely necessary and to do so without wasting hard-earned taxpayers' dollars." A Defence spokesman said while "some non-compliance with procurement policy requirements" had been identified, there was "no evidence to suggest fraud or corruption" and "all audit findings have been addressed".

"Defence is reviewing its procurement practices for musical instruments to ensure a centralised and value for money approach across the three services," the spokesman said. "Members are provided with professional quality equipment at enlistment for them to perform their duties. The instruments are expected to be used over a 15- to 20-year period in professional performances." Defence Minister Senator Marise Payne said "professional-standard" musical instruments were expensive but there were "inconsistent approaches" to buying instruments between the ADF services. "I have asked my department to review the procurement practices for musical instruments and report back to me to ensure it is consistent across the services and achieves value for money for taxpayers," Ms Payne said. SOUNDING A SOUR NOTE

Overall, Defence reported 29 "significant non-compliances" with finance law, proven as fraud and addressed through criminal, disciplinary or administrative action in 2016-17. A total of 248 contracts or variations, worth $434,141,533, were exempt from being published on the Austender website under provisions of the FOI Act. These exemptions were generally applied under the national security, defence or international relations provisions. The Department of Finance administers the Austender website and a spokesman said it is designed to "provide transparency and accountability regarding government tenders and contracts". "​Finance engages with agencies through various forums and issues updated guidance material, including on issues identified in ANAO performance audits," a spokesman said. There are 294 full-time and 445 part-time musicians in the ADF, who since 2007 have been equipped to the tune of more than $5500 each.

Some of the individual expenses queried by the Sun-Herald include: Flute $25,025 (2016) procurement of a Burkart flute purchased to directly replace a 20-year-old flute.

Tenor trombone with accessories – $49,342 for 10 trombones and accessories including cases, lyres, mouthpieces and mutes.

French horn and accessories $114,950 – 10 French horns and accessories including case, lyre and mouthpiece.

Goblet wine and goblet champagne flute $14,425 – 3500 wine glasses and 600 champagne glasses, distributed to Defence operated messes. The Department of Defence has the most tenders and some of the tardiest reporting, with delays of six years to report items such as "Rations – Meat" or "Rations – Dries" starting in 2011, ending in 2012 and reported in 2017. *An earlier version of this story included a quote from RMIT Professor of Human Security and International Diplomacy Joseph Siracusa, who said musicians who play in the American military supply their own instruments. This is not correct, the US military do provide instruments for their full time musicians.