Ellie Whiteaker (WA, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

I, too, rise to speak on the Defence Housing Australia Amendment Bill 2025, a really important and practical piece of legislation. The Defence Housing Authority was established in 1987, under the Hawke Labor government, to ensure that members of the Australian Defence Force and their families had access to quality, affordable housing no matter where they were posted, as Prime Minister Bob Hawke said at that time. That is an outstanding example of our government's fundamental approach—an integrated, comprehensive, consistent and coherent approach, with all sections of industry, all departments and all levels of government making the maximum contribution to our national goals. Today we continue that legacy by providing housing to support our personnel, our partners and the broader network of supporting organisations for our Defence Force. Housing has always been one of the most important conditions of service. A safe, secure, affordable home directly affects the wellbeing of defence personnel and their families, which, in turn, impacts retention, morale and operational readiness.

This bill updates the functions of Defence Housing Australia so that it can better meet the modern needs of our Defence Force and support our national defence interest. It expands the functions of Defence Housing Australia to provide housing for additional classes of persons. This includes our AUKUS partners, civilian contractors and charities that support the work of Defence.

This bill is really important to support the work that is required for AUKUS, which, as Senator O'Sullivan has just spoken to, is so important for my neck of the woods: the southern suburbs of Western Australia. AUKUS is crucial to our nation's security interests but also to the economic future of the southern suburbs of Perth, Henderson, HMAS Stirling and the surrounding area.

Over the next few decades, the Henderson strip will see billions of dollars in investment from the state government and the federal government to support our nation's future security interests. It will support the build of our own conventionally armed nuclear powered subs to replace the Collins class fleet. It will require thousands—more than 3,000, in fact—of skilled workers at HMAS Stirling alone. It's an investment in our future defence industries. It's an investment in developing the supply chain. This will be one of our greatest industrial endeavours in Australia's history, and Australian jobs and Australian industry are at the heart of this investment. It will grow more robust and more resilient supply chains, will strengthen our Defence Force and is crucial to the interests of our nation.

We will see as part of the AUKUS partnership an increasing number of foreign military personnel from our partners as our cooperation with them deepens. This bill is in the spirit of continuing that partnership, giving them the best possible experience here in Australia. This will include the Submarine Rotational Force—West under AUKUS but also the US Force Posture Initiatives, the Australia-Japan Reciprocal Access Agreement and the Australia-Singapore Military Training Initiative.

Each of these brings to Australia more rotational personnel and their families, who will need housing. This bill updates Defence Housing Australia's functions to reflect that reality. It allows DHA to provide housing and housing related services to foreign defence personnel, contractors and civilian staff and charities supporting defence work. It enables the minister to direct DHA to provide housing and housing related services to other categories of persons as required, to meet operational needs. This reform was recommended by the Auditor-General in 2020, who urged DHA and Defence to align this legislation with operational needs and align the provision of housing to defence philanthropic policy. It means that our partners will be able to access defence housing without putting pressure on already stretched housing markets.

A key driver of this bill is the Submarine Rotational Force—West at HMAS Stirling in my home state of Western Australia. From later this year, a small cohort of US personnel will arrive to establish the force. And, from 2027, one UK Astute-class and up to four US Virginia-class submarines will be forward-rotated to Western Australia, supported by thousands of personnel and their families. This initiative involves the rotational deployment of United States and United Kingdom nuclear powered submarines along with their personnel, civilian staff and contractors and their families. Housing for these families during rotations is a strategic enabler, and, without it, capability and readiness are at risk.

Local governments and community groups have rightly raised concerns that increased defence rotations in parts of the country like the southern suburbs of Western Australia could put pressure on the local housing markets. This bill responds to that concern by giving Defence Housing Australia the tools it needs to build dedicated supply. Defence Housing Australia has already signed contracts for 550 new homes near Fleet Base West in the southern suburbs of Perth over the next five years, ensuring secure accommodation close to HMAS Stirling.

We know that this provision of housing is crucial both to operational readiness and to shoring up our housing supply. By using Defence Housing Australia to deliver this purpose built housing, we help absorb the demand, reduce pressure on the local market, support the wellbeing of personnel and their families, support our partners and maintain defence's standing in the community.

We know that housing supply is a challenge right across the country. This bill complements Labor's broader plan to deliver more homes nationwide, from the Housing Australia Future Fund to our new national housing targets and this bill, which ensures the needs of our Defence Force are met. We are doing everything we can—pulling every lever to free up housing in the local market. We're building more homes and helping more young people into their first home, with the Prime Minister announcing just today that we're bringing forward five percent deposits for first home buyers to October this year.

Every lever matters. Every action counts. This allows us to use defence housing for our partners and for other crucial contractors who will make AUKUS a reality, and it does that without placing extra pressure on local housing markets. Stable, secure accommodation for our Defence Force and our partners will allow personnel to focus on their duties, integrate into local communities and maintain the operational capacity required to safely manage the advanced submarines that will come with AUKUS.

This bill is about supporting Defence personnel and their families. It is about strengthening our ties with our partners, which is crucial to our nation's security and to the future of our Defence Force. This modernises the DHA Act, aligning it more closely with operational needs. It will reduce strain on local housing markets and ensure that Defence has the infrastructure it needs to meet our commitments to allies and strategic partners. It is a practical, forward-looking bill that ensures we can deliver on the commitment we have made to the Australian people to invest in our nation's Defence future, to invest in AUKUS, to create jobs, to protect our nation's interests. I commend this bill.