Peter and Margaret Lindsay, General Power, my parliamentary colleagues Ian Macdonald and Sandy Macdonald, the Councillors of the Townsville City Council and my fellow Australians. I am delighted, of course, to be back here in Townsville I am, as Peter says, a regular visitor to this amazing city.
It is true that just on two weeks ago, while I was in East Timor I was able to see many of the men and women of the Australian Defence Forces who are based in Townsville but now on service in East Timor, and personally thank and congratulate Brigadier Mick Slater, a well-known identity and resident of Townsville who is doing a superb job, along with the other members of the units that are serving in East Timor. Not only have they restored order, but they have won the affection and respect of the local people and that twin achievement is one of the distinctive characters of Australian defence personnel who are serving overseas.
Can I say that I am particularly pleased to be here this morning, I know the significance of these Barracks, not only for the history of the association of the Australian Defence Force with the garrison city of Townsville but also to the residents of Townsville. I should tell you, and it's probably no surprise to any of you that your Member Peter Lindsay has been prodigious in being indefatigable in his advocacy of an outcome and a path forward for the Barracks that we, in the Government, hope will win wide support and wide participation in the community.
As you know, last year Defence conducted the most extensive community consultation process ever and site studies to help develop options for the future use of the Jezzine Barracks. And following those consultations and strong representation from the Federal Member, the Government has decided to gift the majority of the Jezzine Barracks, and let me give you the details - that's some 87 per cent - to the Townsville City Council for community use and heritage protection.
The Government is going to establish a community trust to oversee the provision of funding for the development of the site in accordance with the wishes of the community and the Heritage Listing requirements. This trust will be established by the Defence Department, but once established, it will operate independently of the Commonwealth Government. Trustees will include a broad cross-section of the local community with Government, military, heritage and indigenous representatives.
The Commonwealth Government will make a grant of $10 million to the Trust on condition that the Townsville City Council matches this contribution and I understand there's a rough prospect of that, a rough prospect. And that will provide a very generous start to the fund. And in addition, the Commonwealth will provide a further $10 million to the fund subject to the Queensland Government matching that additional contribution, and I can't imagine how they could possibly refuse. I hope so. On the basis that there's $10 million from the Townsville City Council, we will certainly put in $10 million and we'll put in another $10 million if that is matched by the Queensland Government and we are hopeful that that will be the case.
Defence will retain Jezzine House as the residence of the senior military commander in Townsville and the 31st Royal Queensland Regiment Precinct to house a relocated Army history museum. And this reflected the wishes of the community as illustrated by the survey.
Before transferring the land, the Defence Department will spend about $4 million relocating the museum, repairing the forward area and P1 huts and undertaking remediation of contamination and sub-division works. The Federal Government is also allocating $5.8 million to provide refurbished facilities for the 11th Brigade at Lavarack Barracks when they relocate from Jezzine Barracks. And this is a further demonstration of Defence's commitment to retaining an Army Reserve capability in north Queensland.
So in summary, the land, the great bulk of the land apart from the reservations that I've spoken of for the residence and the museum, will be gifted by the Commonwealth Government to the Townsville City Council. We'll establish a trust, which once it is up and running is independent of the Commonwealth, to manage funding and investment. We'll match the anticipated $10 million from the Townsville City Council with $10 million of our own, and if the $10 million is forthcoming from the Queensland Government, which I certainly hope it will be, then there will be another $10 million. That is a total of $20 million from the Commonwealth. We'll pay the costs of remediation, we'll pay the cost of relocating to Lavarack Barracks, so overall it is a wonderful outcome for the people of Townsville.
We got the impression from the consultations that went on that there was a little bit of resistance to certain types of commercial development. I think you will get the impression from the announcement I've made that that has been taken into account in the decision that we have taken. Decisions like this are hugely important to the whole amenity and the ambiance of a community like Townsville. I thought this morning, as I was out walking along the esplanade there as I normally do when I come to Townsville, and I normally stay at Jupiters, and the addition of this land as part of the public amenity of Townsville, land from Jezzine Barracks will really allow an imaginative development for the entire community of this wonderful asset. And for future generations it is a great decision.
I do want to thank the Defence Department that patiently carried out the discussions, I want to thank Sandy Macdonald, the Parliamentary Secretary who has worked very, very hard to reconcile all the competing interests that inevitably arise in these situations. And very importantly, I do want to congratulate Peter Lindsay on his energy and commitment to this project. He's had it in his sights for a very, very long time and he's been very persistent on your behalf. I think we do have a good outcome. It's an outcome that looks after the people of Townsville, it's an outcome that will in perpetuity, respect the military tradition of this garrison city, and it's an outcome that balances the different elements of life here in this wonderful city in north Queensland.
Can I just finally say to all of you that over the past couple of weeks I've been travelling around Australia quite a bit. I was in Western Australia for three-and-a-half days last week. That State, of course, is booming because of the resources boom, but you come to Townsville and you experience that same sense of vibrancy. It comes from different sources, from different wealth springs, but it's nonetheless there. It's a very confident, optimistic, hopeful city and it's got a lot to be confident and optimistic and hopeful about and I hope the decision that I have announced today, when fully implemented, and I'm sure it will be, when fully implemented, it will go a long way to providing for future generations of residents the sort of amenity and enjoyment of the good things of life to which they're undeniably entitled. Thank you.
[ends]