RAAF base Point Cook has been described as an important part of Australia’s military history. Picture: Commonwealth of Australia, Department of Defence.
Victoria will be the epicentre of an Albanese government Defence force property sell-off worth billions, with 16 sites around the state to be divested.
Industry sources are putting the value of some of the Victorian properties beyond $100m if sold off to developers, with the Victoria Barracks on St Kilda Rd and the partial divestment of RAAF Williams-Laverton likely to be highly prized.
But the plan announced following a Defence Estate Audit has already sparked a warning from the head of the nation’s Returned and Services League who is calling for the government to “tap the brakes”.
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Nationwide 64 properties will be sold off in their entirety, with a further three marked for partial sale, and proceeds expected to be near $3bn would be reinvested in supporting the National Defence Strategy.
Defence Minister Richard Marles has called it the biggest reform to Defence estate in history.
Victoria has the most sites listed, followed by Tasmania at 15, and also has some of the most significant ones.
The most prominent include the Victoria Barracks on St Kilda Rd, Melbourne, where the Australian government hosted war meetings during World War II.
Victoria Barracks in Melbourne is on the list for divestment and could be of major interest to developers. Picture: ABIS Dove Smithett, Commonwealth of Australia, Department of Defence.
While hard to judge the site’s value, there are suggestions it could be worth up to $20,000 a square metre — and nearby addresses have sold for $350m such as 437 St Kilda Rd which changed hands in 2023.
RSL Australia National president Peter Tinley AM said while they understood the logic, selling off major sites like the Victoria Barracks in Melbourne was not something to be done lightly.
“These aren’t empty paddocks on a spreadsheet – they’re places where Australians learned to soldier, where bonds of mateship were forged, and where generations prepared to defend this nation,” Mr Tinley said.
He has also raised concerns over where cadets and reservists will go, and warned remediation for some of the sites will “cost a fortune” meaning estimates of an up to $3bn return could “look very different when the final accounting is done”.
The Victoria Barracks as they looked in 1938.
RSL Victoria president Mark Schroffel said they hoped any funds achieved would be considered for supporting veteran housing and accommodation, and that historic sites would be preserved.
The Point Cook base where the Royal Australian Air Force was established is also set to be sold off, as is Fort Queenscliff — which ordered the first artillery shots by allied forces in World War II as it sought to stop a German merchant ship leaving Port Phillip Bay.
Werribee District Historical Society president Lisa Heinrichs said the Point Cook site was the world’s oldest continuous operating defence air base and it would be a “great shame” if it was no longer operational.
“Especially in today’s day and age – I mean, there’s so much tension in the world now, why would we be getting rid of a RAAF base that could potentially be reused for what it was intended for?” Ms Heinrichs said.
“I would be wanting the base and the remaining buildings of the base and the sheds retained, and I would still like to see it be used.”
The RAAF’s birthplace has continuously hosted Defence personnel since it was opened almost 90 years ago. Picture: Supplied.
Project management firm RPM Real Estate’s Luke Kelly said that the property’s development prospects would be interesting given neighbouring land was yet to be approved for projects by the Victorian Planning Authority.
However, Mr Kelly said the development industry would welcome many of the sites — particularly RAAF Williams-Laverton and the Victoria Barracks sites, which could be among the best development prospects in Melbourne, depending what would be allowed.
Another developer, who asked not to be named, put the value of the Laverton site north of $100m.
PropTrack senior economist Anne Flaherty said with a diverse series of locations and generally fairly workable locations, the sites would offer significant benefit as new housing — though noted that individual circumstances would mean very different timelines for sales and development.
“If the government is going to be covering the cost of the clean up, that would make development feasible — as some might be nervous to touch potentially contaminated sites,” Ms Flaherty said.
RAAF Williams Laverton base will be partially divested. Picture: Commonwealth of Australia, Department of Defence.
Professional commercial property pundit Mark Wizel said it would likely take about three years before sales were unconditional, but with the announcement coming at the same time as international developer interest was at a low ebb in Victoria — it would likely result in good news for Australia-based developers.
“It’s absolutely a step in the right direction to contribute to solving the very dangerous situation we have for the massive housing crisis,” Mr Wizel said.
The Wizel Property Group founder added that how the government looked to sell the properties would also be important.
“If they are expecting 30 or 60 day settlements, it wouldn’t surprise me if none of them got sold,” Mr Wizel said.
“But if they are offered with the right structures, there’s going to be a groundswell of interest.”
Fort Queenscliff is currently home to a Defence museum.
The planned sell-off follows the release of the Defence Estate Audit, which found the nation’s military was “constrained by the weight of its past when it comes to the management of the estate”.
Defence Minister and Deputy Prime Minister Richard Marles said a key reason for the sales was to ensure the armed forces were positioned to keep Australians safe and have sites that meet its operational needs.
“For many years this has not been the case, with many Defence sites vacant, decaying, under-utilised and costing millions of dollars to maintain,” Mr Marles said.
“That is why the Albanese Government is undertaking the most significant reform to the Defence estate in Australia’s history.
“We know this is significant and challenging reform, but we are clear-eyed and committed to seeing it through, because it is the right thing to do in the national interest.”
A former Maribyrnong Defence site also on the list is already in the process of being divested and was put on the market in 2018 — with past suggestions it could ultimately host about 6000 new homes.
It was previously used to manifacture explosives and munitions.
The St Kilda Training Depot will be sold off as part of the plans. Picture: Commonwealth of Australia, Department of Defence.
The Point Cook base’s 350 to 400 cadets will be relocated to a community venue or school.
Defence’s documents state that it will explore options to manage heritage obligations with any future owners.
In addition to being home to the RAAF Museum, the Victorian Heritage Database describes the Point Cook RAAF Complex as the best and most complete collection of early aviation buildings in Australia including a large number of accommodation and hangar buildings dating back to World War II.
The RAAF Williams-Laverton site expected to be prized by developers is now home to the ADF School of Languages and Defence International Training Centre.
Part of their former holdings in the area have already been converted to a suburb-sized new housing estate and jobs precinct now called Williams Landing.
The Victoria Barracks in St Kilda Rd, which dates back to the 1850s and was where the nation’s War Cabinet met during World War II — including the first Australian Government War Cabinet meeting on September 27, 1939. It is currently used as an administrative centre, with up to 250 active Defence personnel based there.
RAAF Base Williams in Point Cook was the original home of Australia’s air force in 1921.
Training depots in Sandringham, St Kilda and Carlton that all currently host Army Reserves operations are also on the list.
The Geelong region will also have a significant sell off, with the sale of Fort Queenscliff and the home of Geelong’s Air Force Cadet Unit, which is still actively training Cadets, as well as the Defence owned golf course on Swan Island, and the ending of the lease of the Training Ship Barwon.
The Newland Barracks in Myer St Geelong was the home to the Alpha Company headquarters of the 8th/7th Battalion, Royal Victorian Regiment — a specialist bush warfare battalion of the Australian Army that helped capture Tobruk in World War II, as well as landing at Anzac Cove, the Somme, Bullecourt and Ypres in World War I.
It currently hosts an Army Reserve unit and cadets.
A section of the RAAF base Point Cook as it looks today: Picture: Commonwealth of Australia, Department of Defence.
Fort Queenscliff was established in the 1860s and is believed to be the first Allied base to order an artillery shot after the declaration of war as they sought to stop a German merchant ship leaving Port Phillip Bay.
It is currently used as an administrative hub, museum and for Cadet training.
FULL LIST OF VICTORIAN SITES TO BE SOLD:
Carlton Training Depot – Full Divestment
Defence Site Maribyrnong – Divestment Underway
Fort Queenscliff – Full Divestment
Geelong (Air Force Cadet Unit) – Full Divestment
Geelong – Training Ship Barwon – End Lease
HMAS Cerberus – Partial Divestment
Kyneton Training Depot – Full Divestment
Latchford Barracks (Bonegilla, near Wodonga) – Full Divestment
Newland Barracks (Geelong) – Full Divestment
RAAF Williams – Laverton – Partial Divestment
RAAF Williams – Point Cook – Full Divestment
Repatriation Clinic – St Kilda Rd – Full Divestment
Sandringham Training Depot – Full Divestment
St Kilda Training Depot – Full Divestment
Swan Island (Geelong area) – Partial Divestment
Victoria Barracks Melbourne – Full Divestment
Source: defence.gov.au
The planned sell off follows the release of the Defence Estate Audit, which found the nation’s military was “constrained by the weight of its past when it comes to the management of the estate”.
“Today’s estate footprint comprises numerous legacy sites without a clear ongoing link to current or future capabilities,” the audit said.
“Urgent interventions are needed to correct the unsustainable trajectory that has resulted from decades of deferred decisions on contentious estate issues.”
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