John Faulkner (NSW, Australian Labor Party, Vice-President of the Executive Council) Share this | Hansard source

I thank Senator Hutchins for his question. Yesterday, I did release the Pappas report, which is now on the defence website. I acknowledge that the report was the subject of an FOI request, but I did think it was important to release the report in the interests of transparency and accountability. I commend the report to senators. It is a comprehensive analysis of defence expenditure and possible reforms and savings. The report has informed the Defence Strategic Reform Program to save $20 billion over the next decade. Mr Pappas now chairs the Defence Strategic Reform Advisory Board, which will oversee the implementation of the reform program.

Governments of both political persuasions have in the past examined the possibility of consolidating the defence estate. This is not new. On 11 August 2007, in a doorstop interview, the then defence minister and later Leader of the Opposition, Brendan Nelson, stated:

What we’re—

the Howard government—

trying to do is to rationalise the number of bases we’ve got. We want larger bases; we want to make sure they’re close to the employment and job opportunities for families and partners.

Defence property consolidation has to get the balance right—the right balance in all issues involved: strategic and economic and the social impact on service families and communities. I do hope that both sides of the chamber acknowledge the critical importance of getting those balances correct.