Penny Wong (SA, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Foreign Affairs) Share this | Hansard source

I would treat anyone who has served our country with great respect for their service, but we respectfully disagree with the assertions you've just made in this place. We are undertaking significant reform of the Defence estate. We're doing that to ensure it is fit for purpose and to ensure that we can provide the Australian Defence Force with the facilities and capabilities it needs to keep Australians safe. What the audit which was undertaken and very carefully considered has highlighted is that many Defence properties simply aren't fit for purpose. They're not fit for purpose. That's why this reform was necessary.

We do have sites which are vacant. We do have sites which are underutilised. Those sites are costing millions of dollars to maintain. Because of that, they're not able to contribute—in a way that we need and the country needs—to ADF capabilities. I appreciate that this is a challenging reform and that it does mean change. But this is about making sure that the Defence estate is fit for purpose and provides the Australian Defence Force and the men and women who serve in it with the facilities and capabilities needed to keep Australians safe.