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The federal government has received the findings and recommendations of an independent, enterprise-wide audit of the nation’s Defence estate and infrastructure.
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The government’s review prioritised an enterprise-wide audit of the Defence estate and infrastructure in response to the recommendations of the Defence Strategic Review, to assess whether the estate meets Defence’s contemporary operational and capability requirements.
The independent review was conducted by Jan Mason, former managing director of Defence Housing Australia, and Jim Miller, chair of the Infrastructure Victoria Board.
Deputy Prime Minister and Defence Minister Richard Marles said, “In the current strategic circumstances, it is more important than ever to ensure the Defence estate remains aligned with our operational and capability priorities, now and in the future.”
The independent co-leads visited more than 70 Defence sites across Australia and conducted a series of stakeholder engagements. As part of these visits, the co-leads’ inspections included visits to a mix of operational airfields, maintenance facilities, research laboratories, warehouses, training establishments, reserve and cadet depots, and working accommodation.
Assistant Minister for Defence Matt Thistlethwaite expanded on the comments of the Deputy Prime Minister, saying, “Delivery of the independent audit of the Defence estate was no small undertaking.”
Key areas of focus for the audit included strengthening the resilience of the Defence estate, mechanisms to accelerate delivery of major infrastructure, climate change risks, and options for consolidation of under-utilised facilities.
“Defence is the Commonwealth’s largest landholder and this report and its recommendations will be critical to ensuring the optimisation of the estate to support Defence’s future growth and posture," Assistant Minister Thistlethwaite added.
The government stated it would now “take the necessary time to review and consider the findings of the independent audit”.
The Defence estate is responsible for managing 2.8 million hectares of land across 70 major bases and more than 72 training areas and ranges, 61 wharves and related maritime structures, and 28 sealed airfields across the nation.
