Television Interview, ABC News Breakfast

SUBJECTS: Defence Estate Audit; Housing

HOST, EMMA REBELLATO: The Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Defence, Richard Marles joins us now from Parliament House in Canberra. Thanks very much for joining us.

DEPUTY PRIME MINISTER, RICHARD MARLES: Morning, Emma.

REBELLATO: Let's start with this plan to sell off 67 defence sites. There's been criticism, the RSL, among others, they're worried about the impact on the retention and recruitment of staff. How do you respond to that? Is that a worry for you?

MARLES: Well, I don't think this relates to the question of recruitment and retention- 

REBELLATO: They're worried about that- it's going to be the- there won't be many in the cities that there will be. It will be mainly in the regions. Is that going- That it’s going to discourage people from joining?

MARLES: Oh, I just don't accept that at all. I mean, look, we've been very focused on recruitment and retention. When we came to power, we actually had a shrinking Defence Force. We're now growing it again and we've got record numbers of people showing an interest in serving in the Defence Force and we're working very close, very carefully on shortening the time, for example, between when people express an interest and when we actually get them into the Defence Force. And when you look at recruitment and retention, really the issues around recruitment lie in that and in respect of retention, you know, we've fundamentally improved the terms of service of those who are wearing our nation's uniform and that in turn has significantly reduced the separation rate. So, I just think that link that to what we're doing in relation to Defence Estate is a complete red herring. Listen, with the Defence Estate we have a situation where for too long governments have avoided trying to deal with this issue. It is a challenging issue. There are lots of interests involved here, but we are one of the biggest landowners in the country- much of that property is beyond its useful life for defence. What the Defence Estate review made clear was that if we don't do anything about this, we'll spend $2 billion- $2 billion over the next 25 years without adding anything to capability. I mean, to give you one example, over the last four years we've spent $4 million securing Spectacle Island in Sydney Harbour.- we haven't had a member of the Defence Force on that site since 2023. And you can run through a whole lot of the properties in respect of that and this makes sense. It is really important work to do. And actually, I think those wearing our nation's uniform understand the importance of that and are supporting it.

REBELLATO: What about the importance of some of these sites in terms of the history of defence in Australia? Because there's some concern about that, that we'll be losing some of that.

MARLES: Well, no, that's absolutely not right. And it is true that some of these sites are deeply historic. I mean, if you look at Victoria Barracks in Sydney, in many ways the Defence Force starts there- it's probably our oldest site. But I think the important point to understand here is, firstly, these buildings are protected by law in terms of their heritage values, so there's no suggestion that any of them get bulldozed or any of that kind. But right now, those building exist behind a defence wall. Now, the heritage value of Victoria Barracks in Sydney, or the heritage value, for example, of the War Cabinet Room at Victoria Barracks in Melbourne, where so many important decisions in terms of our nation's history were made in 1941, that heritage belongs to Australia, it doesn't belong to the army or to the Defence Force, for that matter. And Australians deserve to be able to see it and right now, these sites are not accessible to Australians. Opening them up, having them with a different use, where these buildings continue to exist but are open to the public, is actually a much better heritage outcome for the nation.

REBELLATO: Okay, so let's talk about the different use for these sites. Will housing go on some of these sites when you sell them, will they be to developers?

MARLES: Well, look, there are a number of iconic sites. There's a process to go through here. So, the first answer to that question is that none of those decisions have been made. I do imagine in the fullness of time, there will be housing opportunities in respect of some of these sites. But there's a ways to go before we get to that and the mechanism that we've developed here, which is to, in a relatively short period of time, over the next couple of years, to transfer these sites from the Department of Defence to the Department of Finance, which means that Defence will realise the benefit of this relatively soon. But it also then gives the Commonwealth the space and the time it needs to properly work through these sites. Now, some will be easier to sell, in fact, three have already been sold, but there are going to be other sites which take years to work through. And Finance is the asset expert of the government, and they'll be the ones managing this.

REBELLATO: Okay well, let's talk about housing. We know that the government's looking at ways to address the housing shortage. Capital gains tax. Can you confirm the government is looking at potential changes to the discount?

MARLES: No. You know, what I can say is that our housing policies haven't changed and the tax arrangements around our housing policies haven't changed. And we do acknowledge that there is intergenerational challenges in respect of housing, but our strategy in respect of that has been very much focused on the supply side. It has been focused on building more houses and that that's been the case for the last couple of years and that continues to be the case in terms of our strategy going forward. So, that is where our focus is.

REBELLATO: But can you rule it out then. So, capital gains is off the table?

MARLES: Well, I mean, what I’ve said and what I'll continue to say and what other Ministers have said when asked this question is that in respect housing policy, our position is clear and there haven't been changes to that, including in the tax arrangements. And our strategy in terms of dealing with the intergenerational challenges, our strategy in terms of dealing with housing affordability is very much on the supply side and seeing more houses built, and that will continue to be the case.

REBELLATO: Deputy Prime Minister Richard Marles, thanks for joining us.

MARLES: Thanks, Emma.

ENDS