Caitlyn Rintoul: Marles sells off defence family’s silver amid $368b AUKUS bill, pressure to start Henderson

Selling off prime Defence land won’t even come close to touching the cost pressures bearing down on the Federal Government.

Richard Marles announced $3 billion fire sale of the Defence family’s silver on Wednesday, framing it as a bid to improve the nation’s strategic capability and deliver value for taxpayer money.

But with $1.2b expected to be eaten up by remediation, relocation, and transition costs — at most, it will likely net roughly $1.8b when all is said and done.

While at 35,000 hectares it’s the largest land-holding in Australia, in Defence terms — it’s loose change. Especially in the face of a $368b, multi-decade AUKUS bill, and Henderson shipbuilding still not properly off the ground.

In context, Australia’s latest non-refundable down payment to the United States in December for the America’s Virginia-class nuclear-powered submarines was $1.5b.

It prompted questions about whether the decision was more about freeing up land for housing amid a crunch.

But Mr Marles insisted on Wednesday it was important to clean up the long-held mess previously neglected due to a “lack of political and organisational will” leaving it in the too-hard basket for decades.

The plan to wholly divest 64 sites would shrink the Defence’s presence in capital cities and redirect investment to capability gaps, especially in the northern bases and the infrastructure needed to support AUKUS — a focus explicitly stated in the 2023 Defence Strategic Review.

He added that beyond the upfront net gain, divestment would avoid $100m a year in upkeep.

The decision has unsurprisingly prompted mixed reactions across the political spectrum. WA Liberal MP and former SAS soldier Andrew Hastie was the loudest critic, condemning the plan as a slap in the face to the defence community.

He said the Irwin Barracks meant more than just land or buildings to many veterans in the State, claiming it laid at the “the heart and soul of our Army reserve in the West”.

But Mr Marles argued that Defence wasn’t a heritage service which was required to hold on to costly land for “nostalgic” sake, insisting that tough decisions were needed as the strategic environment hardened.

Shadow defence minister Angus Taylor labelled it a “short-term budget trick” which “risks long-term damage” to national security amid the “most dangerous strategic environment in generations”.

While former Labor WA politician and now RSL boss Peter Tinley called for the Government to “tap the brakes” on the plan and “get this right”.

Mr Tinley said veterans held “deep connections” to the sites, and “deserve more than a press conference” if the assets are stripped from the defence estate.

It comes as 2026 will be critical for Henderson to become the powerhouse it’s repeatedly promised to be as WA’s role in national defence is only expected to grow.

At his Wednesday press conference, Mr Marles vowed the Federal Government was “working hand in glove” with WA on the future home of AUKUS and hinted there would be a Henderson update in the “not-too-distant future”.