Australia’s building industry says that housing could be delivered on some of almost 70 Defence sites which are set to be sold off following an audit of the Defence estate.

As the Federal Government on Wednesday committed to fully or partially disposing of 67 sites within the Defence estate which have been identified as being disused or underused, Master Builders Australia has called for housing to be a priority when deciding upon future land uses for these sites.

In a statement, MBA CEO Denita Wawn commended the decision to release the sites.

“It is common sense to put these 67 underutilised sites to work and MBA continues to call for other Government departments, federal and state, to follow suit,” Wawn said.

“We have long advocated the need to release more Commonwealth land and commend the Government for their forward-thinking announcement.

“Identifying even more opportunities for land release will go a long way in tackling the housing crisis.”

The call came as Deputy Prime Minister Richard Marles released the public version of the Defence Estate Audit as well as the Government’s response to the audit on Wednesday.

Commissioned in 2023, the audit aimed to ensure that the Defence estate portfolio was suitable for the needs of Australia’s requirements going forward.

Overall, the audit found that the estate is too large and is not on a trajectory which is financially sustainable.

It also found that parts of the estate are unsafe, unused and unserviceable.

For example:

• A former explosives factory and research factory in Maribyrnong in Melbourne’s western suburbs has been vacant since 2006, has been repeatedly vandalised and has ongoing safety risks.
• The Bellman Hangars at RAAF Williams site in Point Cook in Melbourne’s outer southwest suffers from significant corrosion, is in a state of disrepair, is unsafe and remains fenced off.

In addition, the report found that too many assets are located in the south.

It found that the estate needed to be reorientated to meet current and future Defence needs.

“The primary purpose of the Defence estate is to support the preparedness of the ADF to meet Australia’s needs,” the report reads.

“Our nation’s history is intertwined with iconic Defence sites that have supported our national interests since before Federation, during times of global conflict and in the aftermath of catastrophic events.

“While these properties have served us proudly, many are no longer fit‑for‑purpose and are constraining Defence’s ability to reposition to meet current and future requirements. It is very clear and widely acknowledged that Defence does not need and cannot afford all of the current estate. This conclusion is validated by data.

“The greatest challenge will be delivering the necessary change. Underutilised portions of the Defence estate are draining resources from higher priority needs. Sustainment budgets as they relate to this part of the estate are stretched too thinly, resulting in critical failures and costly unscheduled repairs.”

In response, the report made 20 recommendations.

As part of this, it recommended the divesture of 68 sites which had been identified as being either unused or underutilised.

Other recommendations relate to aligning facilities to capability priorities including accelerating the transition to an integrated and focused force, driving greater consolidation and shared use of facilities, embedding consideration of alternative finance and delivery models and provisioning for whole-of-lifecycle costs in project budgets.

Of the 68 properties, Marles said that the Commonwealth will fully divest 64 of the sites and will partially divest a further three.

These include barracks in inner Sydney, Brisbane and Melbourne, Spectacle Island in Sydney Harbour and a Canberra golf course.

Combined, the sites are valued at nearly $3 billion.

After selling costs, staff relocations and land decontamination, around $1.8 billion is expected to remain, which will be invested back into the Department of Defence.

Speaking to reporters on Wednesday, Marles said that the divestiture represents a significant opportunity.

“The divesture of these properties represents the opportunity to return billions of dollars to the Government’s purse,” he said.

“Over the last four years, we have spent $4 million maintaining Spectacle Island in Sydney Harbour which does not have a single defence force person on it.

“In the past six years, we have spent more than $1 million dealing with vandalism and theft of the Penrith Training Depot – a property that was vacated in 2016.

Asked about housing, Marles said this would be part of the opportunity but said the focus remained on Defence capability.

“Some of this land is very strategic. I suspect that housing will be part of the opportunity which is created,” he said.

“But I want to be clear, that is not why we are doing this. This is around making sure that we have a Defence estate which is properly attuned to the capabilities of the Australian Defence Force, that we are not wasting money on properties which give no capability benefit to the ADF.”

Wawn said that opportunities for housing should not be underestimated.

“We see that many of them are highly viable assets in terms of housing development,” she told ABC Radio’s PM program.

“They need to focus on ensuring that many of those sites are prioritised for housing to meet the 1.2 million homes (to be delivered over the five years from 1 July 2024) that the Government target has established (under the National Housing Accord).”

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