QUESTIONS WITHOUT NOTICE

Mr MARLES (Corio—Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Defence) (14:21): I thank the member for her question. The estate audit, as you rightly said, was presented to government at that time, and it is a very important piece of work which has looked at the state of fitness, if I can put it that way, of the Defence estate for what are Defence's needs in 2025, understanding that there are a number of properties within the Defence estate which really have their history in the Defence estate as being part of something in the past and not necessarily focused on the future.

The really important piece of work which was undertaken, as I previously said, did have implications in terms of personnel and, to be frank, it required more work in terms of a government response than we initially anticipated. It was to that end that we took more time in developing the response, and I have previously spoken about that. What I would say to the member now is that we have been working on this at a pace since the election, and we will be in a position to respond to that audit in the very near future.

In the context of that response, I will be able to specifically reply to her correspondence in respect of that particular property. But making sure that the Defence estate is fit for purpose in terms of what Defence's needs are in 2025 is absolutely paramount, as is making sure that it gives us the full basis upon which we can engage in our strategic purpose.

To be able to engage an impactful projection is fundamentally important, and I do thank those who worked on the Defence estate audit. I would also like to acknowledge the Assistant Minister for Defence, the member for Wills, who has been working on this since the election. You will be hearing from the government very shortly in respect of this.