Defence fire sale: Mass sell-off as Albanese Government scrambles for military cash

A golf course adjacent to a secretive facility used to train spies and special forces will be sold off under a $3 billion fire sale of defence properties across Australia, including the historic Victoria Barracks sites in Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane.

Defence Minister Richard Marles has confirmed the Government will sell off either wholly or in part 67 military sites, prompting warnings it could harm recruitment or even risk long-term damage to national security.

Labor insists proceeds from the sale of 35,000 hectares worth of defence property, including islands, golf courses and office blocks, will be put towards acquiring new military equipment and upgrades of essential bases.

“The Albanese Government is announcing the most significant reform to Australia’s defence estate in our nation’s history,” Mr Marles told reporters, while releasing the details of the audit completed more than two years ago.

“What became clear was that defence, as one of the largest owners of property in the country, had a very significant estate, much of which was not being used now.

“In truth, the issues around the defence of state have been well known within defence circles for a very long time.”

Among the well-known sites being sold are Victoria Barracks in Sydney, Brisbane and Melbourne, HMAS Penguin in NSW, as well as a golf course next to Victoria’s Swan Island training facility, which is used by the SAS and spy agency ASIS.

Also flagged for sale is RAAF Glenbrook, the air command headquarters for the Royal Australian Air Force, and Spectacle Island in Sydney harbour which the government claims has cost $4 million to maintain over the last four years, despite having no personnel on it.

Under the defence estate audit, the department will reduce its footprint in a bid to generate an estimated sale revenue of $3 billion, despite the fact relocation and remediation costs are expected to total $1.2 billion.

Swift sales of properties are not expected as the Department of Finance examines the sites for appropriate use, including assessing contamination, heritage restrictions, personnel relocation and other obstacles.

Finance Minister Katy Gallagher said she expected a “staged transfer” of the sites to the department and flagged that additional resources would be funnelled into their property disposal division to make it a reality.

It will especially focus on reducing its footprint in capital cities to redirect resources to key sites, particularly in the north of Australia.

Some sites earmarked for sale have no or low numbers of personnel working on them, others serve as museums with exhibits, and some have been damaged by vandals and have high security costs to protect.

Assistant Minister Peter Khalil said he had visited several of the sites across the past eight months and described touring vacant properties which were “a shocking waste of taxpayers’ dollars”.

“I saw abandoned buildings, every window, broken glass, strewn everywhere, vandalism and graffiti… rubbish strewn everywhere,” he said.

RSL National President Peter Tinley said his organisation supported modernising defence infrastructure but cautioned the Government to slow down the divestment process so that it did not disrupt ADF cadets and reservists.

“Many units rely on specific sites for training and community presence. Selling the real estate before sorting the people is putting the cart before the horse,” Mr Tinley said.

“The Government needs to tap the brakes here. Take a breath. Because once these sites are gone, they’re gone forever.”

Opposition defence spokesman Angus Taylor claimed Labor’s “chronic underfunding of defence” had driven the Government to sell off more than 60 defence sites, which would impact “thousands of ADF personnel, cadets and reservists”.

“Labor’s fire sale of historic defence facilities is not a serious solution to Australia’s housing challenges. It is a short-term budget trick that risks long-term damage to national security,” Mr Taylor said in a statement.

“Australia is facing the most dangerous strategic environment in generations. That means one principle has to come first: defence capability cannot be traded away”.

“We must not sell off assets that directly support the recruitment, training and retention of ADF personnel just to cover up Labor’s failures on housing.”

Two key defence sites in Perth’s affluent western suburbs — the Irwin Barracks in Karrakatta and Leeuwin Barracks in East Fremantle — were among those identified for divestment.

WA Liberal MP and former SAS soldier Andrew Hastie condemned the sale in a statement on Wednesday, saying that the Albanese Government should feel ashamed of their “neglect” of the Australian Defence Force.

“Shame on the Albanese Government for the way that you have stripped out the defence budget,” Mr Hastie said.

“And shame on the Albanese Government for the news today that you are selling off our prime defence land and bases across the country.”

He listed historic bases like Victoria Barracks as being “central to the ADF’s identity and history” and the Irwin Barracks as the “home to the 13th Brigade” and “the heart and soul of our Army reserve in the West”.

Two leased WA rifle ranges in Coolilup and Karratha sites will also be divested under the plan.

Mr Hastie added that the selling of land near “sensitive bases” like Swan Island in Victoria was “putting at risk important capabilities”.

“The Albanese Government are not stewards, they are wreckers,” Mr Hastie said.

“They are pushing our fighting men and women — and their families — further away from the population centres that we depend upon for the recruitment of our soldiers, sailors and airmen. Why? For money.”

The audit was commissioned in 2023 following the Defence Strategic Review and was completed independently by former senior bureaucrats Jan Mason and Jim Miller.

The Defence Minister said the government was agreeing or agreeing in-principle to the 20 recommendations in the audit, with government figures anticipating a strong backlash from many communities across the country.

Mr Marles said it was “unsustainable” to keep some properties and it would benefit “the public’s purse” to release them.

“For many years this has not been the case, with many Defence sites vacant, decaying, underutilised and costing millions of dollars to maintain,” he said.

“That is why the Albanese Government is undertaking the most significant reform to the Defence estate in Australia’s history.

“We know this is a significant and challenging reform, but we are clear-eyed and committed to seeing it through, because it is the right thing to do in the national interest.”

Mr Marles acknowledged the heritage value of some properties and said future owners would have legal obligations in many cases to protect them.