Richard Marles (Corio, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Defence) Share this | Hansard source

I do thank the member for his question, and the short answer is yes. Anglesea Barracks remains a critical part of the Defence estate. It is right that, in the member's home state of Tasmania, there has been significant reform as part of the Defence estate review. What that will see is a rationalisation of a number of Defence properties within Tasmania, which will, for example, see the opening of a tri-service cadet facility in Launceston. It will also see consolidation in the north-west of the state for a facility which will deal with both reserves and cadets. But that work includes Hobart and Anglesea Barracks, where, again, there will be a consolidation of the Defence footprint around the Hobart region in the Anglesea Barracks. As a result of that, the government is committing to a $20.8 million increase in investment into the Anglesea Barracks to make sure that it is not only able to undertake the functions that it has had up until now, which are very important, but also able to undertake those functions going forward as, really, the consolidated centre for Defence's footprint in Hobart.

See this speech in context