Real estate bottlenecks, both commercial and residential, are hampering efforts to enact the Aukus agreements.
Western Australia’s central role in the Aukus agreement is being hampered by critical infrastructure bottlenecks and planning delays.
And according to US Studies Centre chair and former ambassador to the US, Arthur Sinodinos, finding a solution requires a national mobilisation effort led by industry experts.
To highlight his point, Mr Sinodinos drew a direct comparison to the industrial effort during WWII led by BHP chief executive of the time, Essington Lewis.
Speaking at a recent Property Council of Australia WA event in Perth, Mr Sinodinos said while the strategy for Aukus was set, Australia must now focus on execution, which he called a moonshot for the country.
He called for a reform of governance structures to deliver projects, suggesting the state needed to streamline processes and appoint high-level leaders to drive the transition.
“We need to break down the way we usually do things,” he said.
“We need to appoint people who are like industry tsars to get a lot of this done.
“This is about how federal, state and local [governments] work together to deliver. The strategy is there, but it’s the execution piece.”
For the commercial real estate sector, the primary challenge remains translating strategic defence needs into tangible industrial capacity on the ground.
Speaking at the Property Council event, RWC WA joint managing director Chris Matthews said Aukus’s influence on industrial land activity on the Western Trade Coast had been minimal, if any.
He attributed the lag to a significant shortage of available commercial and industrial space across the Perth metropolitan region.
“Power is the bottleneck at the moment,” Mr Matthews said.
“At the moment, you can wait 12 to 18 months before you can get power connected.
“We’ve seen people run [facilities] on generators because it takes so long. Obviously big manufacturing can’t really do that.
“If Western Power could take that proactive approach and basically get the power there ready to go for what will come, that would help.”
The state is working to address this complexity.
Office of Defence Industries head Linda Dawson said the government coordinated Western Trade Coast Infrastructure Strategy identified five key priorities relating to roads, land, power and water.
The state is also preparing legislation to establish an office of the coordinator general, which would have strategic development area powers to streamline and facilitate approvals.
The industrial build-out at the Henderson Defence Precinct is scheduled to begin in 2026, with the rollout of construction and fabrication to create 10,000 direct roles over the next decade.
The influx of defence personnel required for operations at HMAS Stirling is already putting immense pressure on local communities.
City of Rockingham Mayor Lorna Buchan warned that the area’s current annual population growth of 3.5 per cent would likely be accelerated amid Aukus activity.
“We have 14 people a day moving to Rockingham,” Ms Buchan said.
“We have been working on a new precinct structure plan for our strategic metro centre, which we’re hoping for a sign on from Department of Planning, Lands and Heritage any day soon.
“That allows us to have high-density infill developments in our metro centre.
“And just to give you an idea of the size of that area, it covers an area larger than the city of Perth, and we’re looking at a five-fold increase in our dwellings ... in high-density infill development.”
For every new defence job, modelling shows a further 1.7 jobs are created indirectly in the City of Rockingham area, putting strain on community services and infrastructure.
The most immediate infrastructural threat is road access to the naval base.
Ms Buchan revealed that planning showed the “potential for network breakdown if investment is not made to roads in Rockingham, very, very soon”, leading to five-kilometre traffic queues (based on figures provided by the federal government).
“People are going to soon run out of social licence for the Navy if they’re sitting in a traffic jam for 40 minutes every morning,” Ms Buchan said.
Housing supply is also critical, according to Defence Housing Australia head of commercial James Wallace, who plans to double the DHA portfolio in the region over the next five-to-six years.
DHA currently has around 670 properties on its books within the Rockingham local government area.
“Without housing, the defence members can’t come and live in a location to do the job that they need to do,” Mr Wallace said.
“We are part of Australia’s defence capability. [Housing] is really important.”
