FOR SALE: 3 x Vic Bks in massive estate purge
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The Australian government received an audit report of Defence estate at the end of 2023 and today made public that it would sell off 64 sites plus downsize three others.
FILE PHOTO: An Australian Army Black Hawk helicopter lands at Victoria Barracks in Sydney. Photo by Corporal Dustin Anderson.
Perhaps the most shocking sales proposed and agreed to are Victoria Barracks’ in Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane.
In typical politician-spin, Minister for Defence Richard Marles sugar-coated the unprecedented fire sale by not mentioning the word sale or even divestment until very late in a very long-winded press release.
Under a slightly different headline to mine – “Delivering the Future Defence Estate” – Mr Marles said the Albanese Government was undertaking the most significant reform to the Defence estate ever to ensure it was fit‑for‑purpose – providing the ADF with the facilities and capabilities it needed to keep Australians safe.
“Today, the Albanese Government has released a public version of the Defence Estate Audit and the government’s response to it – agreeing or agreeing-in-principle to all 20 of the Audit’s recommendations,” Mr Marles said.
“Commissioned following the 2023 Defence Strategic Review, Ms Jan Mason and Mr Jim Miller led an independent process to assess whether the estate is fit‑for‑purpose and provides the Australian Defence Force with the facilities and capabilities it needs to keep Australians safe.
“Key areas of focus for the audit included strengthening the resilience of the Defence estate, mechanisms to accelerate delivery of major infrastructure, and options for consolidation of underutilised facilities.”
The Defence Estate Audit found that “Defence is constrained by the weight of its past when it comes to management of the estate”.
“Today’s estate footprint comprises numerous legacy sites without a clear ongoing link to current or future capabilities”, the auditors reported.
“Urgent interventions are needed to correct the unsustainable trajectory that has resulted from decades of deferred decisions on contentious estate issues.”
Mr Marles said the audit’s 20 recommendations aimed to transition the estate toward a more modern, future‑focused and fit-for-purpose capability that best enabled the ADF in its tasks.
“The audit’s first recommendation, which the government has agreed to, calls for Defence to “reduce its property holdings through focussed divestment of sites at market value in areas not aligned with current or future capability priorities”.
A total of 68 sites were identified for divestment by the audit and, following nearly three years of assessment, the government has agreed to wholly divest 64 sites and partially divest three sites.
Mr Marles acknowledged that some of the sites that will be sold were historically significant and had important meaning to current and former Defence personnel.
“The Albanese Government is committed to preserving and enhancing public access to historically significant sites and collections so that all Australians can celebrate our proud military history,” he said.
The Department of Finance will manage the new divestments arising from the Defence Estate Audit because of its experience in managing large-scale divestment programs, expertise in divestment and remediation, and oversight of the Commonwealth Property Disposal Policy and other land policy and legislation.
Mr Marles said all proceeds from divestments under this process would be retained within the Defence portfolio and reinvested in National Defence Strategy priorities.
A full list of the sites to be sold or downsized is available here.
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Typical Gov’t idiocy – sell the farm and then lease something else back, at greater costs.
When are State and Federal Govt’s going to wake-up that short term gain eventually results in long term loss. Just look at the State Govt’s crying poor mouth, that they have not got enough funds to do various projects e.g, hospitals. If they had not disposed of nearly all public assets that also generate funding, then they would still have funds to help complete projects, instead of being in a hole where they pay exhorbitant rentals and other costs for space, that simply chews up the public purse. We’re governed by idiots that would fail to run a meat raffle.
Don’t sell the three barracks – it’s madness!
Our government seems keen to get rid our history. No history, no culture. That seems to be their plan. Replace Australia as it was, creating a new version.
Once you start selling off historical sites because you aren’t creative enough to find multiple innovative uses for such, whether an airfield (Laverton), an office block Vic Barracks in Brisbane, Sydney, Melbourtne despite defence museums screaming for more space to display their in storage artefacts, then why stop there. Why not sell off all the bases, whether for training, logistics, other and just lease them back from the new owners including those with interests in Russia, China, Iran or Nth Korea and show how naive one can get.
I notice that they’re selling off several rifle ranges that are “used for Army Reserve small arms training”. What, Reserves no longer need to practice & train?
I notice that Point Cook is slated for a full divestment. What a sad day to entirely lose the birthplace of our Air Force.
Another go at getting rid of historically significant military sites. I recall the last time this was attempted, the proposition then included the Point Cook base until various groups complained bitterly to the then government that it could not include the parade ground as it was paved with gravel that commemorated WWI folk. The government then sought to sell the whole site, less the parade ground. There were no or no suitable takers and in the end it was called off, if I remember correctly.
Defence has no one to blame but itself for this situation, it has neglected and ignored historic military sites until there is no military utility left in them. Point cook has the RAAF Museum, the Parade ground and no much else. Various commercial entities now use the rest for their own purposes. Across the road at what was Laverton lost its runways and other parts years ago and now houses the language school and several administrative stuff.