Australia to auction off historic defence sites to raise billions

Defence Minister Richard Marles on Wednesday announced that Australia would be putting up for sale dozens of historic defence sites with a view to raise billions of dollars for the Australian Defence Forces (AFD).

Marles said the decision to wholly divest 64 sites and partially divest three was made based on a 2023 audit which found that Australia's defence "is constrained by the weight of its past when it comes to management of the estate."

Golf courses, rifle ranges and islands, as well as barracks in prime spots in Sydney and Melbourne are among the assets set to be sold. Three have already been divested since the audit's commissioning.

Assistant Defence Minister Peter Khalil in a press conference spoke of a "shocking waste of taxpayers' dollars," with "hundreds of millions of dollars" spent to maintain unused and vacant facilities.

"On the other hand, there are some defence sites that are very beautiful, there are some that have grass tennis courts that rival Wimbledon, manicured lawns, sprawling golf courses, but they are also not meeting the operational and capability requirements for our ADF."

According to the audit, once staff relocation and other upfront costs are taken into account, net proceeds from the sale of the properties "could potentially reach approximately $1.8 billion [Australian ($1.26 billion US)]." The Department of Defence is also projected to save approximately $100 million a year in maintenance costs.