The Prime Minister visited RAAF Base Edinburgh today to turn the first sod on construction of a $46 million Combined Mess as part of the Government's $623.68 million Hardened and Networked Army (HNA) initiative.
The HNA initiative will increase options for Government, in terms of both the combat weight of the force that can be deployed and the duration that forces can be sustained on operations.
There are currently 350 construction workers employed on site at RAAF Base Edinburgh, and the number is likely to increase to 700 at full construction capacity.
The facilities are being constructed to enable the 7th Battalion Royal Australian Regiment (7RAR) to move from Darwin to South Australia.
RAAF Base Edinburgh has long been an important military base for the Australian Defence Force and this investment reinforces its significance.
The project includes working accommodation, training facilities, a driver training area, a vehicle wash point and common user facilities for both Army and RAAF including health, combined mess, fitness and community facilities as well as extensive upgrades to the existing base infrastructure.
Construction of the HNA facilities project commenced in late 2008 and will be completed by December 2011.
Once the new facilities are built, 7RAR will relocate to South Australia along with supporting artillery, combat engineer and logistics troops.
Upgrading Defence facilities will be a major focus of the upcoming Defence White Paper.
While the White Paper will decide on major new commitments, it is also important to renew, repair and refit the kit that already exists, and the facilities that support it.
It is crucial to remediate the degraded facilities that have gone without much-needed investment over many years, such as the nearby weapons testing range at Woomera.
There is no point in buying advanced new air weapons without the proper facilities to test and validate their effectiveness.
That is why the Government will be spending $118 million over the next four years to fix the Woomera range facilities that were neglected for so many years by the former Government.