ADJOURNMENT

Senator O'SULLIVAN (Western Australia—Deputy Manager of Opposition Business in the Senate) (19:59): The government's proposed Defence estate sell-off raises some very serious questions it has not yet answered. It is a real hammer blow to my home state of Western Australia. Earlier this year, Labor announced that 67 Defence sites would be wholly or partially divested.

This is the largest Defence estate divestment in Australia's history. Decisions of this scale must be driven by Australia's national security needs, not by the short-term value of the land. This government continues to struggle to manage the budget.

That's why they're going after this. The coalition has been clear that every proposed sale must be scrutinised on a strict case-by-case basis. First, will it strengthen Defence capability?

Second, will it affect readiness, training, recruitment and retention? Third, will Defence still have the infrastructure that it needs to expand and mobilise in a crisis? Fourth, will taxpayers receive a real financial benefit once remediation, relocation and replacement costs are taken into account?

These questions are particularly important for Western Australia. The government wants to sell Leeuwin Barracks in East Fremantle and Irwin Barracks in Karrakatta and end leases on the Coolilup and Karratha/Dampier rifle ranges. Irwin is Western Australia's main Army Reserve base, and it's home to the 13th Brigade.

It's been operating as a military training area since 1895. Defence's own figures show that its sale could affect up to 1,150 reservists, around 200 permanent ADF personnel and approximately 250 cadets. Leeuwin is also used by reservists, cadets and ADF personnel.

Labor wants to sell both of these barracks and move their activities more than 20 kilometres away, to Palmer Barracks in South Guildford, but has not shown that Palmer actually has the capacity to absorb this uplift or explained what this will mean for reservist and cadet participation in Western Australia. RSL Western Australia has warned that the loss of these sites, particularly Irwin Barracks, would have severe implications and could undermine the long-term viability of future capability.

These concerns deserve proper answers. They are even more significant as Western Australia prepares to take on a much larger role in preserving our national security through AUKUS and the expansion of HMAS Stirling and Henderson Defence Precinct. That will require more housing, improved roads and a significant investment in local infrastructure.

I've repeatedly raised in this place the question of how this government plans to deliver on that? Where are the houses? Where are the upgraded roads and intersections to absorb the significant increase in traffic volumes?

Where is the community infrastructure that's needed to support the thousands of people who live and work around Rockingham and Henderson? The government's AUKUS Community Taskforce is not due to report until later this year. It's still examining the transport requirements.

It has not committed to building the Garden Island Highway. In fact, it handballed that to the Western Australian government, who put it, frankly, in the too-hard basket. As I said recently, in August, it had just selected the site and boundaries for the expanded Henderson Defence Precinct.

This government is always big on the announced number and vague on details. An announcement is not delivery, and another study does not put boots on the ground. Yet, while Labor is still working out the infrastructure that Western Australia needs, it is already pressing ahead with selling Defence assets that we have.

Once these assets are sold, they're gone forever. It is reducing the Defence footprint that we have today before demonstrating that the infrastructure needed for the future will be ready. The financial case also requires much greater scrutiny.

The government has lost control of this agenda, and it needs to address it. National security must come first, and putting Defence personnel's needs ahead of everything else is absolutely vital.