‘Misleading on projects, cyberattack risk’: Former CEO of top Defence contractor sues company

3 months ago 24

The former chief executive of a leading defence and border security contractor has accused the firm he once led of misleading the Australian military and exposing it to potential cybersecurity risks as it managed key taxpayer-funded contracts.

Military veteran turned businessman Dan Smith has also alleged Norsta Maritime and its chairman, former Australian military commander and top intelligence official Maurie McNarn, covered up his concerns and forced him out of the business when he refused to stay silent.

Former Norsta Maritime chief executive Dan Smith alleges he was forced out for raising concerns.

The claims are contained in court records filed as part of a general protections and whistleblower reprisal case lodged by Smith that opens a rare window into the secretive multibillion-dollar world of defence contracting. Smith is seeking damages.

It also comes amid acceleration in Australia’s AUKUS deal – the biggest and most sensitive naval project in the nation’s history.

Smith worked as chief executive for Norsta, a subsidiary of defence giant Varley, from late 2024 until July as the firm managed its contracts assisting the Australian Navy and the Australian Border Force maintain their patrol boat fleets in the Indo-Pacific and South Pacific.

The contracts mean Norsta is in possession of sensitive information about naval equipment, readiness and schedules.

In his court filings, Smith, a former Afghanistan veteran, alleged he “repeatedly raised” serious concerns about Norsta’s internal problems and their impact on the Australian Defence Force and Border Force with McNarn and other directors, only to be pressured to resign.

The court filings allege Smith discovered that Norsta and a sister company were employing “senior project managers to deliver the Defence contracts” even though they were “not qualified project managers”.

Smith also believed that the computer systems being used for defence projects “were not fit for purpose” and might expose the firm, and Defence, to risks of cyberattack.

“Some IT systems were being used for the Defence contracts that had not been cyber-approved by the ADF,” his claim against Norsta alleges.

Norsta Maritime chair and former major general Maurie McNarn.

The former executive also claims that the ADF might have been misled about Norsta’s delivery of military contracts, with “previous reports to the board of Norsta” containing allegedly misleading information which Smith suspected “may not have been an accurate reflection of the performance measures”.

In the court claim, Smith’s legal team alleges that during the first six months of 2025, he warned directors, including ex-major general McNarn, about these and other “noncompliance issues” and his concerns the defence contractor was involved in “misconduct, or an improper state of affairs or circumstances”.

But rather than treat his concerns as a whistleblower claim – known in legal terms as a protected disclosure – Smith was allegedly warned by McNarn that his employment probation period would be extended, or he could leave the firm.

Smith’s lawyers claim this amounted to an unlawful attack on his workplace right to make a serious complaint and avoid retribution.

When contacted by this masthead, McNarn – who led Australia’s military operations in the Middle East before he became a businessman – declined to comment other than saying the allegations would be contested in court. Norsta and McNarn are yet to file a defence with the court.

Smith declined to comment.

The case Smith has filed is rare and, as Norsta’s former top executive, he becomes one of the most senior figures in the defence contracting world seemingly willing to make serious allegations of wrongdoing in a public setting such as the Federal Court.

The allegations in the court filings about cyber weaknesses at Norsta come after Australia’s director general of security, ASIO chief Mike Burgess, had issued general warnings that Australia’s defence industry is of increasing interest to foreign adversaries seeking cyber frailties to steal secrets and intellectual property.

There is no suggestion that Norsta has been compromised, only that its former chief executive warned it was exposed to cyberattack.

The Smith case also follows intensive media reporting about the huge sums of money the Australian government and Defence pay private firms to conduct national security consulting projects.

In 2023, this masthead revealed how Canberra-based defence consultant Noetic (which had no connection to Norsta) claimed in leaked documents to have unfettered access to high-ranking defence and national security agencies that gave it privileged insights about information such as the forward plans of government departments.

That same year, scandals involving defence industry consultants PwC and Synergy 360 also sparked debate about governments’ increasing dependence on private consultants and the practice of outsourcing national security functions to industry.

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