Lachlan Leeming quotes Peter Garrett at the 11 October rally at Balmoral, who lashed out at the Albanese government‘s plan to sell defence bases as “poor politics” reeking of “laziness”. Peter Garrett also directly targeted Defence Minister Richard Marles, saying that his “plan to sell off Defence land at Middle Head is beyond comprehension.”
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The Australian
“Defence sell-off lashed as ‘laziness … poor politics’”
by Lachlan Leeming
11 October 2027
“Labor’s former environment minister Peter Garrett has lashed the Albanese government’s plan to sell off defence sites as “poor politics” reeking of “laziness” in his first public criticism of the scheme, while urging for the decision to be reviewed.
The Midnight Oil frontman addressed a crowd of more than 1000 at Sydney’s Balmoral Beach on Sunday where the partial sale of HMAS Penguin, a Navy base at nearby Middle Head, was being railed against.
The rock star joins former Prime Minister Paul Keating and a handful of NSW Labor MPs as party figures who have criticised the scheme, which will result in more than 60 defence assets across the country being sold in a move forecast to raise a net $1.8bn.”
“Mr Garrett, a minister in the Rudd and Gillard governments, said opposition to the sell-off should be “bipartisan” and claimed it was being pursued to temporarily ease strain on the budget.
“They should be accepting that a plan to flog off public land to buttress a defence budget is very, very poor politics. It smacks of laziness, of process,” he said to cheers.
“It lacks of proper funding preparation, and … it shows a contempt for the voting public and an amazing lack of awareness of the qualities of the lands that are to be sacrificed for temporary … budget relief.””
“Mr Garrett added it was “not up to a group of defence bureaucrats and cost cutters to come up with a plan to rein in the defence expenditure of a department that historically, traditionally, and constantly exceeds its budgets on every single item of procurement that it ever has undertaken”.
In comments released shortly before the speech, Mr Garrett directly targeted Defence Minister Richard Marles over the proposed sale of part of north Sydney’s HMAS Penguin, saying his “plan to sell off defence land at Middle Head is beyond comprehension”.
Mr Garrett, in comments to The Australian, emphasised the entire scheme should be reviewed, saying selling off defence sites across the country was “short-sighted”.
“I think they should have a very good, close look at it, and review this decision,” he told The Australian.
“It’s short-sighted and in some instances completely the wrong way to be raising money for defence procurement.”
Sunday’s rally also included speeches from new Greens leader Senator David Shoebridge, Warringah MP Zali Steggall and NSW Liberal Senator Jess Collins, who is helming a Senate inquiry into the sell-off.”
“Senator Collins emphasised opposition to the sale of HMAS Penguin “is not an anti- development movement”.
“We know there is a problem with housing. We know we need a heck of a lot more of it. But this is about the heart and soul of the defence force. It is about protecting our highly strategic, fully operational bases from being sold off,” she said.
Mr Shoebridge, an ardent critic of the AUKUS nuclear submarine building scheme, claimed the sell-off would only be enough to fund “the tail rudder of an AUKUS submarine”.
Ms Steggall claimed the government had acted with “arrogance and condescension”.
“They simply think … defence assets are there for this government to sell off at will,” she said.
Mr Marles and the government maintain the $1.8bn boost will be reinvested in defence, while claiming some of the sites slated for sale have been out of use for years.
The commonwealth also maintains major defence sites to be sold under the scheme remain significantly underused, with utilisation at Sydney’s Victoria Barracks at 68 per cent, while Melbourne’s and Brisbane’s barracks’ use rate sitting at just over 50 per cent.
The Senate inquiry is set to hold additional public ”