'It belongs to the people'

Thursday 17 September 2026

Peter Jenkins

The Daily Telegraph

A damning parliamentary review of the Albanese government’s “reckless” plan to sell off military sites – including Sydney’s Victoria Barracks – is demanding the scheme be shelved.

Explosive preliminary findings from a Senate committee inquiry into an asset “fire sale” targeting more than 60 defence properties across the country were tabled in Canberra on Wednesday night.

The interim report was handed down just days after the committee’s chair, NSW Liberal senator Jess Collins, announced the inquiry’s extension until February, with hearings to continue “until we get our questions answered”.

In a joint release from Ms Collins, opposition defence spokesman James Paterson and South Australian senator Leah Blyth, the committee recommended “an immediate halt” to the government’s proposed divestment program aimed at netting $1.8bn.

“The committee has revealed significant issues with the way this process has been undertaken,” the statement read.

“(It) has been engineered to support a predetermined outcome and … will result in a significant deterioration of Australia’s strategic capability.

“Amid findings of inadequate public consultation, incomplete due diligence checks and limited regard for the ongoing strategic value of these sites, the committee recommends parliament consider new legislative powers for stronger oversight and scrutiny of Labor’s short-sighted defence estate divestments.

“The committee warns that … experts have identified foreseeable impacts … on vital capabilities such as Australian Defence Force readiness … mobilisation and domestic counter terrorism.”

Former Chief of Army Ken Gillespie is among outspoken critics of the move to sell Victoria Barracks, the Paddington base acknowledged as the spiritual home of the Australian Army.

“I think it was bureaucratic decision making based on budget pressures,” he previously told The Daily Telegraph.

“The point that I’m really concerned about is that Victoria Barracks has been for many years at the heart of our planned domestic response … around potential terrorism and security issues in the Sydney CBD and along the harbour.

“The disposal of Victoria Barracks hasn’t been thought through and there are major strategic implications.”

After tabling the interim report, Ms Collins said: “We did the consultations the government refused to do. And the resounding message we’ve heard is that Labor his this so wrong.

“This is not something that can be corrected by a future government. Once (the sites) are lost, we’re not getting them back. Australia’s defence estate does not just belong to the government of the day. It belongs to the Australian people.

“Labor have given the Diggers, sailors and aviators their eviction notices, but not even the star ranked officers know where they are going in most cases. It is chaos.”

Mr Paterson added: “We are calling on the Albanese government to halt this reckless fire sale to allow proper public consultation and parliamentary scrutiny to occur.

“We are currently in the most dangerous strategic times since World War II. Assets that appear surplus today may prove critical tomorrow.”