Assistant Minister for Defence - Development of Defence land to ease Darwin housing pressure

Assistant Minister for Defence Stuart Robert MP, together with the Federal Member for Solomon, Natasha Griggs MP, today announced additional housing for the Top End.

This initiative will deliver more high quality housing for Defence members while also delivering more land for residential developments that will benefit the general community.

“Under the Australian Government’s plan we will deliver an additional 800 houses for Defence members and their families and, importantly, deliver over 1,500 houses for the general public in Darwin,” Mr Robert said.

“Additionally, as Defence members and their families move into their new Defence Housing Australia (DHA) houses, their vacated houses will be made available to the general public, further easing the pressure on the private housing market.”

Member for Solomon, Natasha Griggs, expressed her support of the announcement and the positive impact it would have on the Darwin housing market.

“As a long-time advocate of reducing the housing squeeze in Darwin I am delighted to be here today with the Assistant Minister for Defence who has listened and acted in not only the best interests of Defence members and their families, but also the wider Darwin community,” Mrs Griggs said.

“Today’s announcement is a significant milestone in my attempts to bring relief to the Darwin housing market, and shows how Defence, DHA and the Australian Government are working together to relieve the pressure on the people of Darwin.”

Today’s announcement at Defence’s former 2 Control and Reporting Unit (2CRU) represents the first phase of the Government’s Top-End Defence housing strategy.

“The proposed sale of 2CRU to DHA is the first step in my plan to deliver more quality housing for Defence members and to ease the housing pressure on Darwin’s general community,” Mr Robert said.

“This particular development will provide approximately 400 additional homes. Of these, more than 200 will be made available to members of the public with their construction expected to start in 2017.”

Media contacts:

Richard Briedis (Minister Robert’s Office): (02) 6277 7730 or 0477 391 174

Gemma Corles (Mrs Griggs Office): (08) 8928 0180 or 0429 432 415

Natalie Cooper (DHA): 0419 476 970

Defence Media Operations: (02) 6127 1999