Press Conference, RAAF Base Townsville

SUBJECTS: Upgrading infrastructure at RAAF Base Townsville, Apache helicopters

PETER KHALIL [ASSISTANT MINISTER]: Good morning, everyone, my name is Peter Khalil, I’m the Assistant Minister for Defence. It is wonderful to be here in – I was going to say sunny Townsville, the sun is coming out, it’s been windy in Townsville this morning.  But it’s great to be here at RAAF Base Townsville, I’ve got Colonel Karl Reynolds here with me, the Executive Director of Capital Facilities, and some of the people working with CPB to build all of this capital work here on the base. I’ve got Brendan and Camilla and Gary with us here today as well.  

It’s very exciting. The Australian Government, the Albanese Government has invested $700 million in upgrading the infrastructure on RAAF Base Townsville, and what we’re seeing a little bit behind us is the work that’s being undertaken by Camilla and Gary and Brendan and their teams to build a multi-storey carpark, to build a new brigade headquarters for the 16^th Aviation Brigade, to build training and command facilities here as well. And also, a simulation wall for the Apache helicopters which will be coming down here into RAAF Base Townsville.  

As you probably know, the 1^st Aviation Regiment is being relocated here. It has relocated here. And that’s continuing on, and the 16^th Aviation Brigade is also relocating here as well. There’s a lot of work being done here. It’ll create some 275 jobs in construction at its peak and inject about $375 million into the North Queensland economy, just from the work here and once the Apaches come on board here there will be another 150 jobs that are created here at RAAF Base Townsville, another 50 jobs in Brisbane, another 20 in Oakey. So wonderful for the wider Queensland economy, the North Queensland economy. The great work that is being done here is all about upgrading the facilities, the bases to make them fit for purpose for the ADF for the challenges that we face, and the Albanese Government is investing billions of dollars in these upgrades in the infrastructure that’s necessary to allow the men and women in uniform to do their job to protect the nation.   

I’m going to hand over to Colonel Karl Reynolds who is going to tell you a little bit about the work that’s going on here. 

KARL REYNOLDS [COLONEL]: Certainly thanks Minister. This is a very exciting for military personnel. As you can see behind me the carpark is well and truly underway. This will increase the car parking for around 380 car spaces for the base. This is one of the only functional bases certainly that I’ve seen where you can see training from one end moving through to management and command workshop areas and office accommodation through into the squadron headquarters into maintenance, logistical support and sustainment and then to the actual capability to then be deployed. The base is a functional capability that we bring in to Townsville here. It will have both the lift with the Chinooks here, as well as the attack helicopters being the Apache, so certainly an advancement in capability that we will have here in the North. 

KHALIL: Thanks Colonel. Happy to take any questions. 

JOURNALIST: The LNP’s Phil Thompson has raised concerns that there’s just not going to be enough accommodation for all the influx of troops. What’s your response to that? 

KHALIL: Well, he should check out the fact that the Minister for Veterans Affairs and Personnel, Matt Keogh, announced just late last year the build of 495 new homes for defence housing here in Townsville and the region. Also, it should be said that there are over 70 properties in Townsville currently which Defence is making sure are going to be filled from November this year. So, we are very cognisant of the increased number of personnel that are coming down to RAAF Base Townsville. We’re cognisant of the fact that they need that support and that’s why we’re going to build almost 500 homes for the personnel that are coming down and for other personnel on this base. There are some personnel that live on base as well, we have been talking today about the infrastructure on the base and how important that up lift is and that upgrade is. This is happening right across Northern Australia.  

The Albanese Government is committed to upgrading infrastructure and the bases to make them fit for purpose for the modern ADF and our current and future capability needs, there’s a lot of money that’s been put in and I think maybe the LNP, the Opposition, should probably have a bit of self-reflection because when they were in government they had 28 projects that were 97 years late. They had $42 billion of commitments that had zero dollars towards them. And the difference between us and them is that while there’s a lot of big talk that they made back then, we are actually delivering. We are actually investing the money in these bases, you can see it happening behind, the delivery is actually happening. We’re building the homes for defence housing. We’re building the infrastructure on bases, we are raising the bases to make sure that they are fit for purpose for a modern fighting ADF. 

JOURNALIST: Can you tell me the strategic importance of Townsville as an Army hub? And aviation particularly, will you be rolling out more capabilities here? 

KHALIL:  Yeah, I think a lot of that strategic importance flows from the National Defence Strategy, the NDS. The articulation in the NDS which is a great piece of work that was conducted by the Albanese government when we first got in really sets out the challenges that we face across the Indo-Pacific region and the need that we have to actually up lift and upgrade our northern bases, RAAF Townsville being a big part of that, to make sure that they are fit for purpose for the ADF and the work that they do to protect our national interests and our collective security across the region. 

Townsville, obviously geographically very important situated here. Army aviation, and I did - I must say that I’m very encouraged by the fact that a lot of the Airforce and the Army work together here. They do so very cooperatively, and they do so across bases in the north, there’s a real coordination that goes on particularly between Army, Aviation and Air Force. They have obviously things that they do that are very similar as far as aviation, but having the 1^st Aviation Regiment based here and also the 16^th Aviation Brigade headquarters and the brigade based here and really with the Apaches and the Chinooks that kind of work that they can do together as Colonel Reynolds talked about, the maintenance, the sustainment, the engineering support, the training facilities, the simulation facility for the Apaches, the command headquarters, having that all coordinated in RAAF Base Townsville is actually all about efficiencies but also all about making sure that we get the best out of our aviation units, and that is going to be happening here at RAAF. It’s already happening at RAAF Townsville and really excited to see the first Apaches come in.  

JOURNALIST: Is this a sign of what’s to come potentially with more expansions in this region for Defence?  

KHALIL: Absolutely, and I think – I’ve got to correct myself on the figures – but we have committed billions of dollars to infrastructure upgrades across the base infrastructure and the facilities across Australia with a very big focus on the northern bases clearly. That came out of the National Defence Strategy as well, the need to uplift and upgrade the northern bases to make them fit for purpose. And that work is underway here, at Learmonth, Tindall and many other bases across the north and that is a commitment that we’ve made and we are delivering on. 

JOURNALIST: Is it fair to say that the government is aware of increasing geopolitical instability in the wider region?

KHALIL: I think that is very fair to say. I think the fact is that we are in the midst of the most volatile geostrategic environment that I can remember and certainly people talk about – scholars talk about this being the most volatile period geo-strategically since the end of the World War II. It is a much more dangerous world; it’s a much more volatile environment. The Albanese Government understands our responsibility and our obligation to make sure that we invest in our defence, in our diplomacy, in our development assistance. I call it 3Ds - the tools of state craft to ensure that we make our contribution to the security and the stability of Australia and the region, and our place in the region, and work with our partners in the region around collective security and that why we’re working so closely with so many countries like Japan and South Korea and other countries to ensure we maintain that stability in the Indo-Pacific. It is a difficult challenge but I think we’re up to the challenge and we’re seeing the work that we’re doing here on the bases to build up infrastructure, to make sure that our ADF have the assets and the equipment and the kit that they need.  

And I will say too, we have invested the largest increase in defence spending since World War II, since in peace time. Now with the announcement just on the weekend of another $12 billion to upgrade Henderson in WA that’s $70 billion of additional defence spending over the decade. So, whether it’s the $1.7 billion for the Ghost Sharks around kit that we need, whether it’s infrastructure upgrades, we’re actually delivering on defence spending and defence investment. And I will make that final point that given the geostrategic volatility, our investment in defence is an investment in peace. People need to – it’s a bit counterintuitive, but when we invest in defence, we are investing in the ability of our ADF to deter adversaries and to deter us from conflict and that is an important investment especially when we work in conjunction with our allies and partners around the collective security and collective deterrence across the region. Any other questions? All good?

JOURNALIST: Maybe one for the Colonel again if that’s okay. 

KHALIL: Oh well, is it a political question? Ah - Colonel you’re all good!

JOURNALIST: Can you just tell me about the significance of the Apaches coming here and having that attack capability in the north as well? 

REYNOLDS: So, certainly from Defence, having the Apaches here in the north gives us both deployable lift as well as attack capabilities here in the north, so critical for our combined arms capabilities, how army operates, and having that all located here in the Townsville region is of significance for Defence and Army. 

JOURNALIST: And obviously having the Apaches is quite a great asset to have; can you tell me why they’re such a capable aircraft? 

REYNOLDS: Well, I’m not an engineer, it’s probably best question for the capability managers which are the aviation commands structure in Army. 

JOURNALIST: Yep, sure.

JOURNALIST:  Obviously this has been a long-time coming sort of this lead up to so close to these new aircraft arriving. Preparations have been going on for a while, yes? 

REYNOLDS: Correct, so this project commenced back in 2023 so during that period we have been working closely with the squads and aviation commands, but then also with industry to work on both the designs and the development of the infrastructure to support that capability and it’s not just, the hangers and working accommodation, it’s quite complex in terms of these are systems that we are bringing in to the north here, so the integration of industry into those systems is complex and needs a lot of planning and preparation to make sure that integration occurs and that’s taken us a good two years of development and having industry involved through that journey to where we are today allows us to integrate that, hopefully seamlessly with the first arrival of the Apaches and then the simulated training facilities to go with that. 

JOURNALIST: And just finally, I’ll just get you to say your rank again as well, just to say, double check it. 

REYNOLDS: Colonel.

JOURNALIST: And what brigade are you in?

REYNOLDS:  So, I’m with the team managing capital facilities and infrastructure.   

JOURNALIST: And when will the construction wrap up here? 

REYNOLDS: So late 2028.  

KHALIL: Thank you everyone, and don’t downplay the fact that you’re not an engineer, Colonel, because all the work that you’re seeing behind us, the foundation that is being built here at RAAF Base Townsville is fundamentally important for the Apaches to come on board, for the aviation units to be here. Everyone is going to get the glory with a nice picture with the helicopters, but you’ve done all the hard work as has Camilla and Brendan and Gary and your team, so thank you very much. 

ENDS