The Hon. Dr Brendan Nelson,
Minister for Defence

Printer friendly version
09 May 2006  

Tuesday, 9 May 2006

073/2006

$40.6 MILLION IN DEFENCE FUNDING FOR THE NORTHERN TERRITORY

Defence facilities in the Northern Territory will benefit from $40.6 million in funding for 2006-07.

$27.2 million has been allocated to approved Defence facilities projects. A further $13.4 million will be spent on Defence Estate upkeep works.

The capital facilities investments in the Northern Territory will support important new equipment for Defence capability in the form of the Armed Reconnaissance Helicopters and the Armidale Class Patrol Boats.

Approved capital facilities projects for the Northern Territory include:

Timber Creek – Bradshaw Field Training Area Infrastructure

This project will provide engineering services and infrastructure to allow the use of Bradshaw as a field training area for the 1st Brigade. Civil works were completed in November 2005. Building works have commenced on a training force maintenance area, base camp, range control and caretaker facilities. Building works are due for completion in mid-2006.

Darwin – 1st Aviation Regiment Relocation

This project will provide new facilities for the 1st Aviation Regiment at Robertson Barracks in Darwin and includes purpose-built working, training and domestic accommodation facilities. Six of the seven construction packages are complete. The final package, consisting of the simulator building and military instruction block, is due for completion in September 2006.

Darwin – Darwin Naval Base – Patrol Boat Facilities

This project will provide upgraded facilities at the Darwin Naval Base for the new Armidale-class patrol boats. Construction commenced in early 2005 and is being completed in stages to allow for the continuing operation of the naval base and to support the staged introduction into service of the Armidale class patrol boat. The project is due for completion by late 2007.

 

Program of Major Works (by State, Federal Electorate and Locality)	Total Estimated Expenditure $m	Estimated Cumulative Expenditure to 30 June 2006 $m	Budget Estimate 2006-07 $m
NORTHERN TERRITORY
Lingiari
Timber Creek: Bradshaw Field Training Area Infrastructure	64.8	60.1	4.7
Solomon
Darwin : 1st Aviation Regiment Relocation	82.0	79.6	2.4
Darwin Naval Base – Patrol Boat Facilities	19.2	3.4	13.9
Total Northern Territory	166.0	143.1	21.0

•  A further $6.2 million will be expended on approved medium projects not detailed in this table.

  Additional expenditure is expected to be announced during the year as further projects are considered for approval. Projects scheduled for Northern Territory include RAAF Darwin Redevelopment Stage 2, Robertson Barracks Redevelopment, RAAF Tindal Redevelopment Stage 5 and Airborne Early Warning and Control aircraft facilities.

Estate Upkeep

The Government will meet its 2004-05 budget announcement to provide an additional $300 million over three years from 2005-06 to meet increasing costs of maintaining the Defence estate. The additional funding will bring planned expenditure on Defence estate upkeep to approximately $381.8 million during 2006-07.

The additional funding will enable Defence to meet the increasing cost of maintaining its extensive base infrastructure, including airfields, naval bases, barracks, training ranges and fuel farms. Funds will also be used to meet community, environmental and occupational health and safety regulatory requirements.

The programme of estate upkeep works is developed and revised each year. The further funding is expected to result in additional expenditure on estate upkeep in the Northern Territory over the next three years. During 2006-07 this will be approximately $13.4 million.

Examples of works to be undertaken in the Northern Territory include:

•  repairs to NORFORCE working accommodation at Jabiru depot;
•  replacing water storage tanks at RAAF Base Tindal;
•  refurbishing living-in accommodation for soldiers at Larrakeyah Barracks; and
•  sound proofing of the air traffic control tower at RAAF Base Darwin.

Media contacts

Nigel Blunden	(Dr Nelson)	02 6277 7800	0407 632 931
Rachel Kingsford Smith	(Senator the Hon. Sandy Macdonald)	02 6277 3705	0408 019 537
Defence Media Liaison		02 6265 3343	0408 498 664

 

 

Printer friendly version  

Search: