Long term plan to address Stuart Highway shutdowns

The Commonwealth will spend millions upgrading Top End defence bases – but road security is a long-term plan.

The federal government will spend $2 million upgrading air-conditioning and other maintenance works at the old Howard Springs quarantine centre as part of a $24m upgrade to Top End Defence infrastructure.

Assistant Defence Minister Matt Thistlethwaite is in the Top End inspecting facilities targeted by the Commonwealth’s $2bn Territory Defence budget.

He announced the additional spending at Robertson Barracks on Tuesday with officer in charge Brigadier Doug Pashley and Member for Solomon Luke Gosling.

The government will spend $22m in infrastructure upgrades at Robertson Barracks including improvements to the medical and dental facilities, military working dog facilities and fitness options at the base.

Road security is an issue in the NT. Picture Katrina Bridgeford.

Much of the $2m to be spent at the old Howard Springs centre for national resilience will go into airconditioning upgrades.

Last year NT Master Builders released a report that identified Defence would spend $6bn in the Territory during the next four years with 7640 direct and indirect jobs flowing into the economy.

The ACIL Allen’s report was released to prepare businesses for the opportunities Defence spending would deliver.

The report followed the release of the Defence Strategic Review in April that concluded the focus of the nation’s defence presence should be in northern Australia.

Mr Thistlethwaite said an additional about 500 troops would relocate to Darwin over the next decade.

Solomon MLA Luke Gosling, Robertson Barracks commander Brigadier Doug Pashley and assistant defence minister Matt Thistlethwaite.

The federal government noted the importance of a fully-functioning year-round NT road network in the Defence Strategic Review.

“Recent severe floods have highlighted the importance of well maintained resilient civil infrastructure, including ports and roads that support this network, and the need for an ability to restore such infrastructure quickly when lost or interrupted during severe weather events,” the DSR said.

Mr Thistlethwaite said climate change was a “major national security threat”, but stopped short of committing additional funding to NT roads.

“Given that a lot of our strategic bases are in the north here and are subject to the extremities of climate change and you have a rugged Wet Season up here, making sure those facilities are accessible and can function properly is really important,” he said.

“We’re keen to invest in infrastructure projects to ensure that our bases are accessible and they can work into the future. From a Defence perspective we want to see that our bases have appropriate infrastructure to ensure accessibility.”

Mr Gosling, who chairs the Parliament’s Regional Development Infrastructure and Transport committee, said additional money was being siphoned into the Roads to Recovery scheme.

“The Stuart Highway and our rail line are obviously vital for resupply and movement of people and goods up here in the Northern Territory,” he said.

“If that is cut it becomes a big issue for Defence and our communities.”