Press Conference, Townsville, Queensland

SUBJECT: 400 New Homes to Be Delivered for Defence Personnel in Townsville; Government Response to the Royal Commission into Defence and Veteran Suicide.

DEFENCE HOUSING AUSTRALIA ACTING MANAGING DIRECTOR, BRETT JORGENSEN: Thank you very much for coming today. Housing for DHA and providing contemporary housing and housing services for Defence members is absolutely the top of the list for us. We're very committed to that. Defence are growing across the country and we're committed to providing that housing both nationally and also here in Townsville where we've got quite a bit of growth. Housing is very important to members, it’s important to us and I know it’s important to the Minister. So I'd like to hand over to the Minister for our announcement.

MINISTER FOR VETERANS’ AFFAIRS AND DEFENCE PERSONNEL, MATT KEOGH: Good morning everybody. It's great to be here in Townsville in all its weather glory. We started off our term in government by conducting the Defence Strategic Review and then adopting our National Defence Strategy. A key part of that was the importance of Australia's north to Australia's defence and national security. What that means is that the important garrison town of Townsville where we have some 14,000 current and former serving members of our Australian Defence Force becomes even more important to our national security and to the work of our Australian Defence Force. And that means we will be increasing over time the number of Australian Defence Force men and women that are deployed to and are living in and around Townsville area, particularly in our Army. And supporting our Defence Force members along with that is incredibly important. As you can imagine, making sure that we ensure that our Defence Force members are properly housed with contemporary modern housing options is incredibly important, not just for them but for their families as well. And we also appreciate that in the Townsville environment it's important that we don't add pressure to the housing constraints that have applied historically here. And what that means is that through Defence Housing Australia, DHA, we are increasing the housing availability to support our Defence Force members. And so today we're announcing that DHA is entering into three agreements to supply an additional more than 400 homes to support our Defence Force members here in Townsville and the surrounding region. These over 400 homes will be located here and in other areas within 30 kilometres of Lavarack Barracks, making sure that they're close to where our Defence Force members go to work every day. This is through three agreements that are with Maidment Land, with Tropical Homes and with Z&Me Property, three local housing businesses here in Townsville to supply housing to our Defence Force men and women. By bringing these over 400 houses online commencing from next financial year, that will relieve pressure on the private rental market here in Townsville as we bring more of our Defence Force members here and into the north of Australia at large. This is part of a much bigger program that Defence Housing Australia is operating across the country as we seek to grow our Defence Force not just here in Townsville but around Australia, making sure that we are responding to the new geostrategic circumstances that we confront as a nation. And so we are expanding our housing offerings, not just here in Townsville, but in places like Rockingham as well, which will be supporting our AUKUS engagements and expansions and in other parts of Australia. But critically here and around Townsville adding over 400 homes that will be made available through DHA to support our Defence Force men and women. This is part of the supports that we've been rolling out through our workforce plan that we launched at the beginning of November, which sets out our trajectory for growth of our Australian Defence Force, but also the measures that we're taking to support the members of our Australian Defence Force and their families to make sure that they are well looked after by our Defence Force, and that they're able to continue to provide what is the most important capability for our Defence Force, that is our people. That's why we look after them, it's why we're making sure that they've got the housing that they need in a contemporary setting in the community in which they live, which is a really important part of how we deliver this support to them. Thank you. OK. Any questions on any of those things?

JOURNALIST: How many houses are set to be up and ready by the next financial year, by 2025-26?

MINISTER KEOGH: So that the over 400 will start rolling out from that financial year. So you'll see it evolve over that time. I don't have the numbers, Shane might have the number for that year in particular, but it will grow over a few years after that.

JOURNALIST: Are these all DHA owned properties or different models? 

MINISTER KEOGH: So this is a new model that is being operated here where DHA is contracting with housing providers where they will build the housing, sell it to a private owner who will then be leasing it back to DHA to provide to Defence members. So it provides a great investment opportunity for people who want to be getting into that market. But it means also that we're able to leverage the opportunity of property development to expand the number of houses available to Defence Force members without having to be responsible for owning and building. We have other projects that do that around the country as well. For example, in Canberra and in Darwin, we have programs where DHA is the property developer. And indeed, we're currently in discussions with the Townsville City Council around the Aitkenvale development to bring on another 150 homes that would be a DHA development there as well.

JOURNALIST: About 500 extra troops are set to arrive in Townsville from the start of next year. Given these homes won't be built then, it will take some time. What do those members do in the meantime?

MINISTER KEOGH: So in the next posting cycle, we'll see a bit less than 400 additional Australian Defence Force members coming into the Townsville area. And that's going to be done in a staggered way to make sure that those people are able to settle, they're not all hitting the Townsville market all at once. DHA already has a large number of vacant housing that they're able to start allocating and have already started allocating to those Defence Force members that are additional Defence Force members that are coming in to Townsville. But as you'll also appreciate, whilst there's a growing number, there's also people rotating in and out over those times, over those posting cycles. And so they're able to be accommodated through a combination of vacant housing that DHA has available in the Townsville area as well as through the current rental property market as well as through other properties that DHA is in discussions with around growing its resources here in terms of housing it has access to to provide in the shorter term. And DHA is always engaging with the market here around how it can bring more houses to market to support our Defence Force members through operating with a number of developers and looking at new schemes that it can operate in this area. So we're confident that DHA and the market here in Townsville is able to support those additional members coming to Townsville as they rotate in through the posting cycle, which we're doing in a staggered way, recognising that we need to measure that impact as it goes forward.

JOURNALIST: You've already started seeing some soldiers who are living on base for one or two years to be evicted to make room for some Adelaide troops who have started to come up. Should projects like this have started earlier and finished sooner?

MINISTER KEOGH: It's important to understand that the housing model that supports our Defence Force members is quite varied because it meets the varied needs of our Defence Force members. So we provide a combination of on base accommodation. The accommodation is provided directly through Defence Housing Australia. We provide rental assistance for those who want to exercise member choice and be able to be in the private rental market so that they can get different types of housing. But we also support Defence Force members in buying their own home as well with a scheme that provides a discount on interest rates where Defence members are seeking to buy their own home. And a lot of Defence members in Townsville actually own their own home as well. So that mix is really important in terms of meeting the needs which are quite different across the spectrum of our Defence Force members as they go through different life stages as well and through those combinations of housing, on base, off base, DHA, private rentals and owning their own home, we're able to meet those needs of our Defence members as we are moving people in and out of Townsville through their posting cycles.

JOURNALIST: How many DHA properties are currently available?

MINISTER KEOGH: So that number actually changes week to week because we're in the process of posting right now. So I don't want to give you a firm number right now because yesterday's number changes tomorrow. But we've certainly got over 100 homes that are in the process of being allocated out right now and then of course more are becoming available.

JOURNALIST: Early in the year it was reported that there was about 100 or so vacant DHA houses sitting there which needed minor repairs to have people move in. Has any progress been made to get these ready?

MINISTER KEOGH: Absolutely, certainly that work is ongoing and that's an ongoing cycle of work that occurs with DHA homes as people move out of those homes making sure any necessary repairs or maintenance are undertaken as quickly as possible so that they can become available again for Defence Force members who need them.

JOURNALIST: Any concerns about the fact that the vacancy rates have gone down below 1.5%, and people are struggling to get into the market and what's going to happen with it if Defence members cannot get a home, but also if it creates a bit of bad blood with the local community? 

MINISTER KEOGH: Certainly we acknowledge that there is a low vacancy rate in the rental market here in Townsville and it's why projects like the one we're announcing today are so vital making sure that we're increasing the amount of housing stock available through DHA directly for our Defence Force members which reduces the pressure of Defence Force members in the private rental market here in Townsville and it's why we're doing programs like this around the country as well. No Defence member will go unhoused. We always make sure through Defence and DHA that our Defence Force members and their families are appropriately housed through various mechanisms as I said before. But we do understand that pressure and it's why we're undertaking these sorts of programs as well as being in conversation with the Townsville City Council around the development that DHA wishes to undertake in Aitkenvale to grow even further the housing stock available through DHA and to improve therefore the market here in Townsville for the civilian housing market as well. 

JOURNALIST: On those Aitkenvale projects, and there were some announcements about projects in the Ross River as well. What’s the progress been like for those? I know they were set to be open around 2028?

MINISTER KEOGH: So, I think we're still targeting around that 2027 - 2028 for the Aitkenvale development to go forward as you'll appreciate there's town planning and approval processes that need to be gone through in getting a development like that up and that's why we're working closely with the Townsville City Council and I have no doubt that the Townsville City Council itself is very keen to make sure that we're able to bring as many homes forward as possible to support our Defence members given the need to have more homes here in Townsville across the entire market.

JOURNALIST: By then those around 1,200 people would have already moved up here, being the soldiers and their families. Is 2027 - 2028 too late?

MINISTER KEOGH: By that time we are increasing the number of additional people that are coming into Townsville. I think it's important to recognise we're talking about a big city here and Defence has a big footprint with over 4,000 Defence Force members currently serving here in Townsville and we're accommodating them at the moment already as we grow that by less than 400 over the course of the next year and then continue to grow that. So that's why these developments become so important so that they're ready and online to support those Defence members as well as the other engagements that Defence Housing Australia has in the market and with developers.

JOURNALIST: If construction is beginning next financial year, when will the first of these properties be available?

MINISTER KEOGH: So the first of these properties will be delivered next financial year. Construction is starting much earlier than that to make sure that they are starting to be delivered for next financial year.

JOURNALIST: When will construction start?

MINISTER KEOGH: I don't have that fact. Probably not right now [laughter].

JOURNALIST: What will the mix of properties be? Are we talking like are they all standalone houses or are they family homes?

MINISTER KEOGH: In terms of the properties that are being delivered through these agreements, certainly in this sort of estate here we're looking at family homes. I think we're looking at around three bedroom homes is our sort of standard footprint. There's a few different variations of that to make sure that we are meeting the needs of the breadth of our Defence families that require that housing but the standard is around that three bedroom mark which is a standalone home. With a small garden that can be looked after as well, given that obviously Defence Force members are being deployed and everything else as well, we need to make sure that we cater to those needs to support the Defence member and their family.

JOURNALIST: Minister, just a couple of questions following on from yesterday, if you might please, on the recommendations -

MINISTER KEOGH: I might just exhaust the housing questions. I'm very happy to -

JOURNALIST: Do you mind just stepping through the numbers of when people are arriving and how many troops we’ll eventually get?

MINISTER KEOGH: Yes, so I'm not going to give you specific numbers about how many numbers and when they're arriving because there's actually a bit of a, there is a security element to that which is why, as I say, there'll be less than 400 additional people being posted through this next cycle and that's the number we're seeking to accommodate. But we're not going to get into the granularity of that because it's important that we maintain some security around those precise numbers.

JOURNALIST: On the RAAF base there was some construction as well for accommodation. Do you know if that’s short or long term accommodation?

MINISTER KEOGH: So the on base accommodation is both accommodation of short term transient housing as well as long term single resident Defence Force members that are on base and the new housing would be part of the overall housing mix that's available to support those needs.

JOURNALIST: Do you know the numbers for the RAAF base?

MINISTER KEOGH: I don't have the RAAF base number off the top of my head, but we can happily get it to you.

JOURNALIST: Looking long term, is there any concern that by using the model of investors to be owning these homes that as that cycles through and then at the end of the lease they sell those off, that we're going to see Defence families pushed further and further away from the bases?

MINISTER KEOGH: One of the key criteria around the housing that DHA provides for our Defence Force members is that they are within 30 kilometres of the gate of the base. That's critical in order to support both family lifestyles so they don't have to travel too far but also making sure from an operational point of view that they are located close to the base. DHA has that obligation to provide housing in that area. And with these programs where investors will own the homes and then lease them back to DHA to provide for Defence Force members, they're done under long term leasing arrangements and as people wish to move on from those, DHA goes back into market to acquire additional homes through these sorts of programs to make sure that needs are always being met. There are always people coming in and out of the property investment market which means there's always the opportunity for DHA to grow its stockpile as it needs to support DHA housing requirements for our Defence Force members, but also as people may wish to move out of those arrangements to replace them as well.

JOURNALIST: When you say 30 kilometres from base, what areas are we going to see these houses popping up from?

MINISTER KEOGH: Draw a circle 30 kilometres from the gate of the base and they’re the areas you'll see the houses. And this is important that they're not all just grouped together. That they're spread out through housing developments, through the community, especially in a place like Townsville which is if you like Australia's premier garrison city. That it's not just about having all of our Defence Force members all sitting on top of one another, but they are integrated into the community which is important for the Defence Force members but it's very important for their families as well. Being able to access schools, being able to access all of the community services and shops that are available. That it's not just one group sitting apart from the community, but our Defence Force members and their families are part of the community here just as they are wherever they're located around Australia.

JOURNALIST: So just to dial, we've seen a similar issue in Darwin with a very tight rental market, a lot of people posting in. Is there anything different happening to Darwin?

MINISTER KEOGH: So the Darwin market is actually quite different to the Townsville market. There's a much greater degree of housing availability in the Darwin private market but also DHA stock in Darwin as well as on base available in Darwin in terms of the relative footprint of the Defence Force in Darwin and the surrounding area. So it's not the same as the Townsville environment but we also do have the developments ongoing there such as Lee Point which is moving forward to expand even further the housing available in Darwin. And that development won't just expand the amount of housing available to DHA to provide to Defence Force members, it'll also be providing across the entirety of that development additional housing for the private market in Darwin as well.

JOURNALIST: Has there been a bit of a struggle to get investors to go in on this or has it sort of been a steady flow?

MINISTER KEOGH: So this is a new way of approaching market that we are working with property developers, housing developers where they are already going to be looking to be selling those homes into obviously for first home buyers and for second home buyers but also for the investor market and being able to work with them to engage with those potential investors to be able to support Defence Housing and I don't think we're concerned in any way about being able to meet the demand that we're asking.

JOURNALIST: So just back to Darwin, do you have any numbers on how much the number of ADF personnel in Darwin will increasing?

MINISTER KEOGH: I don't have a precise number for Darwin but we're not giving precise numbers but I don't have that number of people.

JOURNALIST: Because there is a bit of concern that the vacancy rate in Darwin is going to be sitting about the same as here and that the wet season will be -

MINISTER KEOGH: As I said before the housing stock situation in Darwin is actually quite different than when I was up there recently -

JOURNALIST: Is that in terms of DHA stock or the actual housing stock?

MINISTER KEOGH: As in DHA stock and the housing that DHA can make available. So you had a question about the Royal Commission?

JOURNALIST: Going on from yesterday obviously we heard the recommendations that the Government is adopting. I guess just from your perspective as Minister of Veterans’ Affairs, are you confident that your government is doing enough following the Royal Commissions?

MINISTER KEOGH: I think if we look at our response that we announced yesterday to the Royal Commission into Defence of Veteran Suicide’s Final Report. We have agreed or agreed in principle 104 of the 122 recommendations. We have noted 17 of those recommendations and they are going to be further considered by the task force that we are establishing to look at how those and other recommendations can be implemented. There is more detailed work that needs to be done on those which means we are addressing all 122 recommendations of the Royal Commission. There is only part of one recommendation that we have not accepted. So I am very comfortable that as a government we have shown the required urgency in delivering this response and have sent a very clear message to Defence, to the ADF, to the Department of Veterans’ Affairs as well as to the community at large that we are serious about delivering on these recommendations from the Royal Commission. So that we can improve the lives of our serving personnel, our veterans and families. 

JOURNALIST: With these recommendations in the path forward I suppose looking to the future, it is not going to be an overnight fix working with the recommendations that you have adopted or adopting. It has obviously been a very long process and we are ready to get there. How confident are you that you think we can implement serious change, meaningful change as quickly as possible?

MINISTER KEOGH: One of the key things that we announced yesterday in our response to the Royal Commission into Defence and Veteran Suicide is setting up the Defence and Veterans’ Service Commission. And this is about ensuring that these recommendations are implemented properly and that we are delivering for the Defence and veterans community. Having this Commission as a statutory oversight body, we are setting it up straight away but it will be then legislated over the course of next year as well, is a really important recommendation from the Royal Commission. And it is something that the veterans and family community have been calling for for some time to make sure there is that ongoing oversight of government. Not just for us but for governments into the future. And I think that is a very important demonstration that we agreed to that recommendation straight after we received the Royal Commission's report because we understand the need to make sure that there is that constant work on implementation. As well as the important work that the task force, as well as the departments and the ADF themselves, will be undertaking quickly. Some of these things do need to be staged out, it is why the task force is an important part of yesterday's announcement. But there are a number of things in the Royal Commission's Report recommendations that we are able to move on much more quickly and we will be.

JOURNALIST: And just finally from me please Minister, the importance I guess of regional veterans and regional areas, not necessarily places like Townsville but across the country and also Veterans’ Hubs. We know that there is some scope for Veterans’ Hubs to be expanded and we know how important they are, places like the Oasis here. I guess what is the plan in terms of Hubs and I guess utilising those and potentially expanding those?

MINISTER KEOGH: So one of the great things about our Australian Defence Force is it is spread out across the country. In garrison towns, as I describe it like Townsville where there is over 14,000 current serving and former serving Defence Force members. Which makes it critical that we are providing the services that our Defence Force members, veterans and families need in those areas. Places like Townsville, Darwin but also Rockingham and all around the country, making sure that services are provided. And that is why there are recommendations in the Royal Commission that go to the establishment of a veterans wellbeing agency within the Department of Veterans’ Affairs. There's recommendations that go to how do we make sure services are provided appropriately in regional areas where so many of our veterans are located. And in particular supporting the Veterans’ and Families’ Hubs which we've established and are rolling out. We have the Hubs like Oasis here in Townsville doing very important work that have been part funded by the Commonwealth Government. You've got other Hubs that have been operated by ex-services organisations separately to government. We need to look at how we can best make sure that we are not duplicating work. That we are coordinating that work to support not just veterans but families as well. That's why they are called Veterans’ and Families’ Hubs. We know that families are often first responders when it comes to supporting a veteran and they are often the ones that go looking for that assistance for their veteran or for themselves. And then are able to encourage their veteran family member into a Hub, into accessing services and supports that may help them. And we recognise that our veteran community is spread out across the country. It's something we've been doing a lot of work in and indeed we gave extra funding into the last Budget for some of our in-home support and care programs to make sure we are able to continue providing them throughout regional Australia as well to support our veterans that need that support.

JOURNALIST: You've said the Government will back recommendations that they will stand down or discharge Defence personnel that have been found to have committed sexual assaults. Do you think it's taken too long to get to this point?

MINISTER KEOGH: Yes.

JOURNALIST: And what does the process look like about that?

MINISTER KEOGH: So there's changes that need to be made both from a policy setting within the Department and within the ADF but also regulatory changes that are required to back that up. We need to get about doing that promptly so that there is the legislative backing to enable that change that the Royal Commission has called for. I think it's an important change not just because we need to actually act in that way but it sends a very important message as well to our Defence Force but also to the broader community that we are not going to tolerate that sort of behaviour.

JOURNALIST: And Member for Herbert, Phil Thompson has been a big supporter of increasing the head safety around blasts and concussions for soldiers. But he’s spoken out that the Government hasn’t really backed recommendations to improve that. I guess, why haven’t they?

MINISTER KEOGH: The Government agreed in principle to that recommendation around brain injury including mild traumatic brain injury from blasts. So we've agreed that in principle. There's quite a bit of work to do there and we are doing that work. It's been really disappointing to see the work that had previously started under the last government had then been stopped. We've restarted that and are looking at how we can properly measure and understand the impacts of blast exposure for our Defence Force. But we're also working with our Five Eyes partners who are dealing with these issues themselves as well so that we're not duplicating and remaking the wheel. We can learn from their experience, from their research and apply that in an Australian setting. That's the work that we are undertaking. We've also improved the safety standards around blast trauma for our Defence Force and we're continuing to learn from that so that we can improve the situation. And I think it's worth understanding as well that any Defence Force member who has suffered brain injury is able to get healthcare and support through the Department of Veterans’ Affairs already. 

JOURNALIST: Thanks for stopping by.