Capricornia Chamber of Commerce: Submission to Senate Inquiry – Impact of Defence training activities and facilities on rural and regional communities

INTRODUCTION

A Defence Force presence in Central has long been seen as a presence that should be one of four pillars of our local economy; together with Beef and Agriculture; Tourism; and the Mining Sector.

The reality is: It is far from that.

The Training Area (SBTA), to the immediate north of the and less than 80kms from the central hub of , is Australia’s largest Defence Force training area at 4,545 square kilometres. Since 1966 this has been under the ownership of the Australian Defence Force (ADF) for the purposes of military training of our Army, Navy and Airforce. In more recent years, the region has enjoyed an increased military presence, via the Singapore Armed Forces contingent currently numbering approximately 6,000 per year for a six week rotation across both Townsville and SBTA and; from the United States armed forces in their biennial “Talisman Sabre” exercises.

Fourteen months ago the region was made aware of the Singaporean Government’s announcement of an intention to increase its presence in military training exercises in Australia with an increase in both frequency and troop numbers. Troop numbers have been mooted to increase from the current level of approximately 6,000 to over 14,000 with the training period to be increased to 18 weeks per annum, split between the Townsville Field Training Area (TFTA) and the SBTA. At this juncture, we in are uncertain of the real outcome for our local economy.

In addition to the increased defence force presence, the Australian Defence Force (ADF) estimated an expenditure by the Singapore Government of over $1 billion in the Rockhampton and regions over the next 10 years. What hasn’t been provided however is to exactly when, how and where this expenditure will be spent. Consequently, the region remains unsure of what this means in terms of any economic benefits in terms of local job creation for our regional economy, or whether these funds will truly be spent on engaging local companies. The concept of spending money in the region is not the same as the region actually receiving a quantifiable economic benefit with its local companies and contractors successfully winning ADF tenders.

In its current form, prior to the disastrous SBTA Expansion where compulsory acquisition by the ADF was halted thankfully, only after intervention by the Prime Minister, Malcolm Turnbull, the SBTA is still one of the biggest dedicated Defence Training areas in the “western world”.

By comparison, SBTA is 2.5 times bigger than the three largest United States army bases, Fort Bragg, Fort Hood and Fort Campbell combined.

Similarly, the SBTA area is actually 5 times bigger than the entire land mass of Singapore.

It is a facility, sufficient enough with its current footprint, to allow a multitude of land and amphibious exercises including live firing.

SOCIO-ECONOMICS

A study was completed in 2004 entitled “A Socio-Economic Impact Study of Defence Force Activity in Central Queensland, Australia” (the Study). This was a paper commissioned by the ADF and managed through the Centre for Social Science Research at Central Queensland University.

The Study had four objectives:

 To assess the Economic impacts of Defence Force Personnel in Central Queensland (CQ);  To assess the social impacts of Defence Force Personnel in CQ;  What are the community attitudes and perceptions to the Defence Force in CQ?;  How is our CQ economy placed to meet the needs of Defence Force Personnel?

The following recommendations were made by the Study:  Defence data needs to be maintained and updated on a regular basis and also stored as aggregated and cross linked data sets for ease of examination.  In order to maintain the current level of economic contribution to the CQ economy all stakeholders . need to continue to be entrepreneurial and sell their goods and services to Defence Force Personnel; . and maximise this activity to the extent possible by sourcing such products locally  Recommendation 3.0 In communicating the nature of each activity Defence could identify the participating countries clearly.  In communicating with the local community, Defence need to consider TV and newspaper as the major sources of local knowledge.  More publicity regarding the community work undertaken by the visitors while in the region should be considered.  Businesses should consider different hours of operation during Defence force visitation in order to increase the opportunity of visiting personnel to spend within the region.  Promotional and development organisations might consider ways to harness return visitation from visiting Defence personnel in tourist roles.  Community awareness of the contributions visiting Defence personnel make should be enhanced; along with social education strategies for a more welcoming and tolerant community profile.

The conclusions that were reached in this study have not changed substantially over the last 13 years. Important data that the study managed to extract from its comprehensive surveys of military personnel was that each Singaporean Defence Force visitor spent an average of $1,442 per visit in Central Queensland. Similarly, the average amount spent per US Defence Force visitor was $2,734. Finally, the average amount spent per ADF visitor is $2,133.

Clearly, a greater contingent of ADF and overseas defence force personnel (albeit on short furlough following exercises in the region) will mean an injection of funds into our economy largely into businesses that cater for discretionary spending.

In addition to this money spent by visiting Defence Force Personnel, It stated that there is additional expenditure by our own defence department as well as Singaporean and US defence Departments when there are exercises, in areas such as general purchasing, infrastructure support, rations support and information support. It estimated the value to the CQ economy of over $30M.

The Study also stated, “On balance, most people felt that the visits impacted neutrally or positively on their quality of life. They enjoyed the pride of showing off their region to the visitors, and felt that the exchange of cultures was a positive aspect.” and “Residents were slightly positive about the economic benefits from the exercises and were somewhat more enthusiastic about the potential for contact with other cultures.”

The engagement by our community towards defence force personnel, whether they be domestic or foreign, has not waned in the last 13 years. If anything, with the spate of natural disasters that CQ has endured such as 2 Tropical Cyclones and three major floods in the last decade alone, where ADF forces have provided support in the wake of these events, our engagement with our defence personnel has been enhanced.

CAPRICORN CHAMBER OF COMMERCE POSITION

The recommendations of the 2004 study were broad and whilst later defined in some detail, they would still hold relevance today with respect to what needs to be managed at a local level.

In short, despite 50 years of exclusive use by the Australian Defence Force, the SBTA is still a massively underutilised resource. Very little infrastructure has been provided to outfit this resource; thereby very little economic benefits have been enjoyed by the communities that seek to grow in its shadow. Talisman Sabre is a biennial event that lasts for less than 3 weeks. The Comprehensive Strategic Partnership agreement that was signed by Singapore and Australia in May 2016 barely provides any real confidence that the “enhanced and expanded military training access” that Singapore will have, will provide any significant boost to our local economy.

With the relatively small deployment of ADF personnel each year to the region, this is still a massively underutilised facility. As an example, the permanent ADF numbers at the Western Street Army Barracks is barely recognisable. At a minimum, the Central Queensland economy provides affordable housing for a larger military presence across our region that could in turn provide logistical support for an upgrade of the SBTA to what is now just a large tract of land to one that could truly provide world class field training opportunities for the ADF and its military allies. In addition, Warehousing and Maintenance capabilities for military vehicles exists across a range of local locations. There is a significant underemployed workforce across our region that could capably manage these functions.

What is actually one of the most concerning implications of an infrastructure spend of over $1 Billion by the Singaporean Government is exactly what is going to be developed in the SBTA. If the intention is to construct an airport and even a precinct within the confines of the SBTA where military personnel could spend discretionary monies on food, drink, local products, etc, then this “expansion” would in fact have a significant detrimental effect on the local Central Queensland economy.

The reality is, there are many local companies that would like to have the opportunity to apply for defence contracts but do not even engage because they believe that there are too many “hoops to jump through”. The reality is, the definition of “awarding tenders to local businesses” has a different meaning in ADF parlance (and potentially those of the SAF) than what we in CQ describe as “local businesses”. A significant change of attitude needs to occur, with the proposed SBTA infrastructure spend in mind, as to what constitutes a truly local CQ business. To further this concept, checks and balances need to be put in place to ensure that truly local businesses received the lion’s share of infrastructure spending, whether it be by the ADF or the Singaporean Government.

In addition, if we look at the proposed infrastructure spends and increased troop deployments by Singapore alone, then at a minimum there needs to be some significant spending allocated by the Federal Government to the roads networks that feed into and around Shoalwater Bay. This would include but not be exclusive to roads from Port Alma, Gladstone, Rockhampton, the coast, Stanage, Marlborough and Byfield. These areas would not only be impacted by heavy machinery and larger troop movements, but also by the need for these troops to be able to access areas for their own personal enjoyment following exercises. Certainly, all of the dedicated coloured troop movement routes in and out of Shoalwater Bay would need significant work.

If any type of study was to be commissioned, I would recommend that it directly assess the benefits of a larger permanent ADF footprint in Central Queensland and look to ways that the massive area that is the Shoalwater Bay Training Area, could be more fully utilised. This utilisation should review opportunities for other Australian allies to utilise the facility in the same manner similar to what the CSP currently affords Singapore.

Direct comparisons for our economy could be drawn from the economic outcomes that Townsville has enjoyed over the past 20 years from its much larger permanent ADF footprint. With detailed, current information and learnings from the interactions between the ADF and the , the local government bodies here in CQ can then act as facilitators for local businesses to achieve better outcomes from interactions with the ADF and more particularly from what we can do for the visiting servicemen and women and their families, particularly for repeat personal visits as tourists.

Finally, one element that has not yet been adequately explored is how an increased ADF presence in the local CQ economy, together with an increased level of visibility of the defence force as a viable, local employer, may have on our local youth unemployment.

It is “Economics 101” that the more money circulating in the local economy, provides a much more resilient economy. In addition, communication and certainty of timeframes and outcomes, encourages business confidence and entrepreneurship. This is lacking at present.