Politics
Australia Halts Sale of Historic Military Properties After Backlash
The federal government abandons plans to sell four heritage sites, keeping them in public hands while continuing the broader divestment program.
By Headlinne · Compiled from reporting by Age, Guardian and Times of India
The Australian government reversed plans on Sunday to sell 4 historic military properties, including Victoria Barracks in Sydney and Melbourne, following a sharp public backlash from veterans and former leaders.
The decision spares those locations along with Fort Queenscliff and RAAF Base Point Cook in Victoria from a broader government initiative announced in February to divest 67 defense sites.
The original selloff aimed to raise an estimated $3 billion to help fund military upgrades and reduce costly maintenance expenses on underutilized properties.
"Victoria Barracks Sydney has a special place in our nation's history, and we will be keeping it in public hands," said Prime Minister Anthony Albanese.
The historic Sydney site was built between 1840 and 1848 and served as a base for the British army before housing Australian military personnel.
The government announced that the spared locations will remain publicly owned and open to public access, with the Australian War Memorial helping to interpret their history.
"Given the strategic landscape we face, we cannot afford to be wasting money," said Deputy Prime Minister and Defence Minister Richard Marles.
Marles defended the wider divestment strategy by stating that maintaining unused defense properties drains resources from higher priority needs.
Returned and Services League branches and former prime minister Paul Keating strongly opposed the initial sale of the heritage-listed properties.
"It is good to see the government finally listening to veterans and the broader community about the significance of these historic sites," said RSL Victoria president Mark Schroffel.
While four sites were removed from the sales list, the government confirmed that the remaining portion of the divestment program will continue.
Officials noted that certain properties will be transferred to local communities or Indigenous groups, including part of the Stokes Hill Fuel Installation returning to the Larrakia people.
The opposition criticized the partial backtrack, with shadow defense minister James Paterson stating that the Coalition will continue fighting to save other critical defense sites.
The government has not yet clarified whether commercial housing developments might still be permitted on parts of the retained properties.
Reporting from
- The AgeBalanced
PM backtracks on historic Defence properties sale
- The GuardianLeans left
Victoria Barracks in Sydney and Melbourne to remain in public hands after partial backtrack on defence property selloff
- Times of IndiaBalanced
Australia reverses sale of four historic military sites after public protests
How this article was made: Headlinne wrote it with AI from the 3 reports listed above. Direct quotes are checked word for word against those reports, every number appears in at least one of them, and no other sentence is copied from one. Photos are from those reports and credited to them. Each report’s page on Headlinne links to the outlet’s original.