MINISTER FOR DEFENCE INTERVIEW: RADIO NATIONAL

E&OE

SPEAKER:

ELEANOR HALL:               Australia's Defence Minister this morning outlined a plan for the Defence Force to build super bases for the nation's armed services. The Opposition has been calling on the Government to release a defence report which identifies hundreds of millions of dollars worth of potential budget savings that could be made by closing redundant military bases.

The Department's released the executive summary of the report under Freedom of Information laws but not the details on which bases it identified. But while the Government says it will be keeping the report secret, the Minister for Defence Senator John Faulkner did reveal some of the report's details to David Mark.

JOHN FAULKNER:            Well basically it says in that paragraph that in relation to the proposal by Mr Pappas that defence should establish a super base model, Mr Pappas has said in his executive summary that estimated yearly savings from a super base model would increase over time and could reach a total of some $700 million to $1.05 billion - that's in total - by the year 2035. So that's over the next 26 years but just so we've got absolute clarity about these figures, those dollar amounts are in 2008 dollars.

So that's the part of the Pappas report that the FOI decision maker decided to redact or delete but as I said, I've made a decision to make that public.

DAVID MARK:                     Has he identified where this super base or these super bases I suppose could be and what bases would be closed in order to create that base?

JOHN FAULKNER:            Not at all. The Defence White Paper of course talks about strategic basing principles and talks about the sorts of principles that would guide the management of the defence estate over time. And of course as you've heard it's a very long period of time. But there are a range of principles that are important and the Government is very clear about these things.

We say that basing location should be aligned with national and defence strategic requirements; that defence should consider consolidating units into fewer larger and more sustainable multi-user bases over time.

Bases should be located in family friendly areas. Base location should enable the continued provision of reserve capability for defence into the future and where it's possible that bases should be clustered near strategic infrastructure and with industry to promote knowledge sharing and innovation.

Well all this is clear from the Defence White Paper. So it is critically important and it always has been frankly to balance the cost of defence bases against the strategic role they play in the defence of the country.

But just so we're absolutely clear about this, no decisions have been made at all about how the Defence White Paper commitment would be addressed. No decisions have been made about the closure of any bases and I stress with you of course that this is a long term commitment and it is a long term issue.

DAVID MARK:                     When will those decisions be made?

JOHN FAULKNER:            Look, some time in the future. There appears to be a bit of a misunderstanding that the savings that Mr Pappas has identified in his report might be savings that are included in the Defence Strategic Reform Program Savings. They are not. They are not. So the Defence Strategic Reform Program savings are certainly not dependant or in fact associated with this issue at all.

ELEANOR HALL:               That's the Defence Minister Senator John Faulkner speaking to David Mark.

Media contacts:

Colin Campbell (John Faulkner):           02 6277 7800 or 0407 787 181

Defence Media Liaison:                         02 6127 1999 or 0408 498 664