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 plan to divest dozens 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 as recommended by a sweeping audit of the department’s real estate portfolio.

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, Spectacle Island and 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.

Under the defence estate audit, the department will reduce its footprint in a bid to generate an estimated sale revenue of $3 billion, but 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.

He said 14 sites on the list had been identified as not being used yet, costing millions to maintain.

The audit was commissioned in 2023 in the wake of the Defence Strategic Review and was undertaken independently by Jan Mason and Jim Miller.

The Defence Minister said the government was agreeing or agreeing in-principle to the 20 recommendations in the audit.

He 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 the properties and said future owners would have obligations in many cases to protect them.