Jessica Collins (NSW, Liberal Party) | Hansard source

I would like to give a brief update on the Senate inquiry into the management of the defence estate, which I've been chairing. Back in 2023, well before the election, defence minister Marles handpicked an ex-banker and an ex-bureaucrat to conduct Australia's biggest snap audit on the defence estate.

At the first hearing, we learned that the so-called independent auditors were neither independent nor auditors. The defence minister also had regular meetings with his handpicked auditors, and so of course he loved their audit report when they handed it to him in December 2023. So the defence minister cooks up his own report, which is not surprising, given the standard practice of this crooked government. But there are so many sinister elements in the defence minister's master plan to rip out the heart of our Defence Force.

The report he cooked up had a plan to sell off 67 defence bases, including Victoria Barracks in Sydney, the heart and soul of the Army. He wants to sell all the Victoria Barracks, actually, at Brisbane, Melbourne and Sydney, and Lancer Barracks. The really strange part in the audit report is the recommendation that all defence bases be renamed as 'Defence Base' followed by 'suburb'. So HMAS Kuttabul would be Defence Base Woolloomooloo. HMAS Cerberus would be Defence Base Crib Point. It wasn't costed, and it wasn't in the terms of reference. So how did it get in there?

We all know that king and country don't mean anything to the defence minister. He wants offices and office blocks. He has declared a culture war on the Defence Force. He wants to sell most of their history and rebrand the remnants of what's left. And the worst part is that the Labor government had this plan years ago, but they waited until after the election to share their plans with Australia. Labor has sold out our troops, and they have sold out Australia.