KATE ECCLES, President MOSMAN PARKS & BUSHLAND ASSOCIATION

So it is now my very great pleasure to be sharing this evening with the HPG [Headland Preservation Group] and talking about this particularly beautiful part of HMAS Penguin Mosman. Parks and Bushland has been saving public land and conserving bushland for 62 years. During those years, defence land at Middlehead and Balmoral has been threatened and saved twice.

Let's make that thrice. In 1988, the sale of 10 acres at 4 hectares, 4 and a bit of the Angopora forest was proposed for private housing development. The community and council worked together and saved that forest. 

In 1998, defence land on Middle Head, as you know, was proposed for housing and again, community action resulted in the creation of the Sydney Harbour Federation Trust. The land was returned to the people of Australia and they are now available for public access to all.

So here we are in 2026. The Finance Department will be handling the divestment, as you've heard, and the aim is to achieve market value.

What market value can you place on an irreplaceable piece of rare remnant coastal bushland on Sydney Harbour? Our Angophora forest. It is priceless.

I thought there would be a picture of some trees there and I was about to say when it comes… There we are. Look. Aren't they beautiful? They're also called Sydney red gums.

First nations people called them grandmother trees, presumably because the boughs spread out and then bend into an embrace. They are also a keystone species in the Angophora forest ecology. Powerful owls, listed as vulnerable in New South Wales, are seen nearby and heard in the forest. Angophoras need to grow for 100 to 150 years to form hollows for powerful owls to nest, as well as for the arboreal creatures they prey on.

We have not been able to do an ecology report, but we know of other endangered species nearby, so it is highly likely that they are here too.

The New South Wales Department of Planning and Environment has designated this land as having high biodiversity value and being sensitive to development or clearing. It's part of a bushland corridor that extends from Balmoral to Middle Head ridgeline and beyond to the Sydney Harbour National Park. Such corridors are becoming rare and fragmented and therefore increasingly significant.

And what about the scenery? When you stand on the Esplanade at Balmoral and look towards Middle Head, you see a green headland which includes the Angophora Forest.

It is part of the scenic area of Sydney Harbour. From Balmoral around Middle Head and Georges Heights, Chowder Bay, Chowder Head and Bradleys Head.

The Bondi to Manly walk, described as an epic coastal and harbourside walking track between Australia's two most famous surf beaches. The track passes along Hmas Penguins Angoffera Forest, giving local walkers and tourists from far and a wonderful experience of Sydney's bushland and Angoffra trees. Its inconceivable that the forest could be destroyed.

We believe that there is a high likelihood of unrecorded aboriginal heritage in the forest also. And as someone spoke earlier, Roy spoke of earlier, it must be remembered that for first nations people the Angofara Forest is more than just vegetation. It is a surviving fragment of the original country.

The financial return from its sale could never compensate for the loss to the environment or the loss of public benefit.

Australians know and love the lands of Sydney Harbour. To the best of our knowledge, there has never been a sale to private interests of Commonwealth land on Sydney Harbour. If a sale occurs, it will be a terrible precedent. We think we should remind Mr. Albanese of his eloquent speech about Sydneylands when he was Leader of the Opposition.

This is what he said. “…so many Australians have access to land around Sydney Harbour …, which is why it is important that this national parliament continue to do what previous generations have done, which is to protect harbour foreshores.” He said that in the Australian House of Representatives when he was Leader of the opposition in 2021.

The alternative to a sale to private interests. If this land is truly surplus to requirements, then transferring the surplus land to the Sydney Harbour Federation Trust would ensure long term protection, public access and environmental stewardship. The Trust's comprehensive plan applies to seven land sites that it manages the Trust land sites, but it also applies to other sites known as Harbour Land sites.

These include HMAS Penguin. The Comprehensive Plan does not develop detailed or detailed outcomes for these Harbour Land sites, but its objectives and policies provide a guiding framework.

The Harbour Land sites are also subject to the same protections for the environment and heritage. If the Harbour Trust's comprehensive plan already applies.

If that plan already applies to the HMAS Penguin land, a transfer to Trust to the Harbour Trust to Harbour Trust management is an obvious outcome. Thank you.