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NQ’s Defence Infrastructure: What the Budget Didn’t Show

Australian Special Forces Soldiers conduct fast rope training on board a US UH-60 Blackhawk Image credit: U.S. Department of Defense NQ's Defence Infrastructure: What the Budget Didn't Show | BDmag July 2024
Townsville’s defence estate and infrastructure is undergoing its largest transformation in decades, however much of it goes without mention in the latest Federal Budget. Here’s why.

By now the reposturing of the 3rd Brigade is well known as Townsville cements itself as Australia’s Army capital and specialists of armoured combat.

The transformative and expensive changes come as a result of the Defence Strategic Review which found land forces needed a restructure to focus on littoral manoeuvres, a type of warfighting which aims to get an advantage over the enemy through projection of land power from the sea to the land, and back.

Already Australia’s largest Army base, Lavarack Barracks is about to outposture all others with $19 million in upgrades to critical capability infrastructure.

Approximately $16 million has gone towards works at RAAF Base Townsville, including refurbishments to Hangar 75, which houses critical air capabilities.

And with Townsville’s rental vacancy straddling around 1 per cent, the issue of where to house an expected influx of more than 500 troops has been front and mind of political and community leaders.

Immediate concerns have been allayed following a recent announcement to build 500 new homes under Defence Housing Australia’s New Builds Volume Program, with an estimated $200 million worth of work in the construction industry in Townsville.

This includes about $80m to build 65 new live-in accommodation rooms on RAAF Base Townsville, as well as a significant transformation of DHA housing in Aitkenvale with hundreds of new house and land packages.

However, you won’t find any of this detail in the latest federal budget.

This is because Defence Housing Australia – while it is wholly owned by the Australian Government represented by two Shareholder Ministers, the Minister for Finance and the Minister for Veterans and Defence Personnel – as an agency it does not receive funding directly from the Federal Budget.

Australian Army soldiers from the 3rd Brigade prepare to deploy from RAAF Base Townsville. Photo: Kate Banville.
Australian Army soldiers from the 3rd Brigade prepare to deploy from RAAF Base Townsville. Photo: Kate Banville.

Instead, DHA has access to a government-provided debt facility and funds its operations through:

  • The receipt of fees and charges from Defence for its services, and
  • Generating revenue from:
    • Selling and leasing back properties through its Property Investment Program
    • The disposal of excess land and completed properties from its developments, and
    • The disposal of properties that no longer meet minimum Defence standards or requirements.

As for the infrastructure works at Lavarack Barracks and RAAF Base Townsville, most of it was captured in commitments outlined in the 2024 Integrated Investment Program (IIP) which was released prior to the latest federal budget papers.

Mick Ferguson, Townsville City Council’s Defence Engagement Officer says the IIP and 2024 National Defence Strategy solidified opportunities for North Queensland businesses becoming a firm part of the defence ecosystem.

“It puts figures against what we already thought those opportunities were and so things become tangible because businesses can see pledges of money to actually make things happen,” he says.

“Once people see that money, business confidence increases, and people start to position their businesses to take a bit of risk and meet the opportunities.

“Doing supply chain mapping to consider what we can provide to Defence locally that helps them do their job and project from the north, or train in the north.

“There is now a real opportunity for local businesses to benefit beyond the obvious of simply having more people here propping up the economy.”

Townsville City Council was the first local government to introduce a defence strategy, and now with many of its ‘High Payoff Target opportunities’ realised, Mick says focus has turned to seeking out new mutually beneficial opportunities for Defence and the region.

Mick points to the relocation of Army’s new AH-64E Apache helicopters to Townsville from 2025, Army Aviation’s Brigade Headquarters, and port upgrades among the big wins achieved.

In this latest budget release for the 2024-2025 time frame, the government has set aside AU$16.7 billion for equipment acquisitions in the coming fiscal year, plus another AU$17.2 billion to sustain existing assets.

Army has been promised AU$11.8 billion for its Boxer armoured vehicles, Redback infantry fighting vehicles, Huntsman self-propelled howitzers, High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems, M1A2 Abrams tanks, National Advanced Surface-to-Air Missile Systems, and UH-60M Black Hawk and AH-64E Apache helicopters.

A Redback infantry fighting vehicle, of which the Army will receive 129 of the vehicles, to be built in Geelong. Photo: supplied
A Redback infantry fighting vehicle, of which the Army will receive 129 of the vehicles, to be built in Geelong. Image: supplied by Australian Department of Defence

“Now we’ve seen the National Defence Strategy there’s more clarity and we can already see additional opportunities for the region,” Mick says.

“And it’s important to have other North Queensland advocacy agencies like Townsville Enterprise involved so this is a collaborative effort of selling our region.

“This isn’t about putting our hands out to the government or defence to ask for something but to actually say we’ve got some really good ideas on how we can help you do what you need to.”

Jennifer Parker, an expert associate at the Australian National University, warned that despite promised increases in defence spending, workforce issues and “a significant gap in ADF capability for the next 10-15 years” remain cause for concern.

Defence currently has a workforce shortage just shy of 5,000 personnel, with the Army copping the brunt of those.

“The workforce issues are, in my view, completely structural,” she said. “There are issues with defence recruitment but it’s not clear why, so that does need to be looked at.”

When it came to budget allocation, Jennifer says defence spending is never an even service split, nor should it be.

“Domains are not equally important in the defence of Australia,” she says.

“Now that’s not to devalue any specific service, but we are an island nation, so obviously the maritime domain and the air domain will be more prominent in investment than the land domain.

“There is a need to recapitalise the Navy because our ships and submarines have gotten so old and nobody made the decision.

“So yes, there is more of an emphasis on the maritime domain because of our new strategy, but also we’ve just reached this point in history where we need to start replacing our ships and submarines. It’s a cyclical thing.”

Australian Army soldiers from the 3rd Brigade conduct a littoral lodgement from the Port of Townsville to Lucinda, Queensland as a part of Exercise Brolga Run 2024. Photo: SUSANNA BEYER
Australian Army soldiers from the 3rd Brigade conduct a littoral lodgement from the Port of Townsville to Lucinda, Queensland as a part of Exercise Brolga Run 2024. Photo: Susanna Beyer

Main image: Australian Special Forces Soldiers conduct fast rope training on board a US UH-60 Blackhawk

Image credit: U.S. Department of Defense

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Picture of Kate Banville

Kate Banville

Kate is a freelance writer who draws on her personal experience as a seven-year Army veteran to report on matters relevant to the defence community. Her work often appears in the Guardian, ABC News, Country Caller, Australian Veteran News and News.com.au.
Picture of Kate Banville

Kate Banville

Kate is a freelance writer who draws on her personal experience as a seven-year Army veteran to report on matters relevant to the defence community. Her work often appears in the Guardian, ABC News, Country Caller, Australian Veteran News and News.com.au.