When it comes to problem shoppers, one Australian is in a class of his own: our Defence Minister, Dr Brendan Nelson. There aren’t too many of us wealthy enough to shell out $6 billion on a whim. Brendan Nelson is. And he’s not afraid to slap the plastic down on the spur of the moment.

Exhibit A is the decision, late last year, to buy 24 Boeing Super Hornet jets at a cost to the taxpayer of $6 billion.

According to the RAAF, Australia doesn’t need these jets. We know this because the top RAAF fly-boy, Air Vice-Marshal Geoff Shepherd, told a Senate hearing that an interim fighter plane is not needed to bridge the gap between the phase-out of the F-111s and the arrival of our even more expensive Joint Strike Fighters.

But just weeks after Shepherd said this, Brendan Nelson went ahead and bought the Super Hornets anyway.

Prodded by Labor’s forensic John Faulkner, disturbing details are now emerging about the process (or the lack of it) behind this purchase.

The decision was made after a presentation by Nelson to the National Security Council. Accounts of the meeting vary. Some reports say Nelson presented a slide show about the jet based on Boeing sales material. Other reports say Boeing sales staff actually pitched.

Either way, the NSC meeting was apparently the first time that Australia’s top brass – including Shepherd and Angus Houston – knew about the purchase. As Faulkner detailed to the Senate on Monday night, the RAAF wasn’t even asked about whether it wanted the Super Hornets.

If they had, they probably would have told Nelson that the Super Hornets will be comprehensively out-flown by the new Sukhoi fighters Australia’s neighbours are buying from the Russians. In fact, many experts (including the influential Carlo Kopp) think that even the Joint Strike Fighters will struggle in combat against the Sukhois.

None of this worried Brendan Nelson. Instead, he handed a massive fillip to Boeing Australia, particularly its departing President – a man by the name of Andrew Peacock.

The Auditor-General has announced there may be an investigation into the purchase – but not until after the next election.