Secret work camp built at major military base

A large work camp has been erected at Exmouth’s Harold E Holt naval base for what is believed to be a sorely-needed overhaul of several critical military facilities.

Eyewitnesses have reported trucks carrying dongas through town to the submarine communication station over the past month and satellite imagery shows a large camp-like structure taking shape on the old baseball diamond out the back of the base.

Business News understands Georgiou Group has won a major contract with the Department of Defence at the facility, however, no public information is available via tenders or other government documents.

A Georgiou Group spokesperson said the company could not speak about work in Exmouth prior to its “client” doing so.

The camp is estimated by passers-by to accommodate between 150 to 300 beds, though the department did not verify these numbers when asked.

“The temporary workers accommodation at Harold E Holt (HEH) is currently under construction,” a Defence Department spokesperson said.

“The temporary workers accommodation will provide temporary accommodation for workers engaged on the Harold E Holt site remediation.

“The temporary camp will mitigate any impacts to existing tourist accommodation in Exmouth.

A spokesperson last week said the department was evaluating electrical infrastructure at the base but has yet to confirm whether this and the camp were related.

The HEH base is understood to be powered by diesel generators situated seven kilometres up the road at the VLF towers site.

The federal government in February said work would be undertaken at HEH and RAAF Base Learmonth south of Exmouth to reduce dependency on fuel supply chains for backup power under a $64 million renewable energy package.

Two months later, $600 million was slated for maritime upgrades at three bases, including HEH.

A further $2 billion was put aside for northern air bases.

Defence would not confirm what the work camp was for.

In August a federal parliamentary committee was alarmed by the state of disrepair at some of HEH’s facilities.

“We saw firsthand how critical infrastructure upgrades at strategically important remote airbases and bare bases have been neglected,” the committee noted in September.

“Investments proposed and planned in 2010 to 2012 never occurred.

“While the subcommittee does not seek to become a roving complaint shop, members were seriously disturbed to visit the pier supporting diesel refuelling of the Harold E Holt Naval Communications Station and seeks advice as to how Defence allowed it to get into such a state of disrepair.

“The adage ‘prevention is better than cure’ seems to have been ignored, and urgent action is required within the next few months as this is a critical capability for Australia and the US.”

The committee has sought information from DoD around allocation of works to “several peculiar things” at RAAF Base Learmonth.

A similar work camp to the one being built at HEH is expected to be built at RAAF base Learmonth next year.

Exmouth’s naval communication station is a critical link to allied submarines operating in the Indian Ocean and South China Sea and is also the operational base for several air force and space surveillance assets shared with the US military.

Raytheon Australia is contracted to run day-to-day operations of the base.

The base was in 2016 earmarked for a $200 million upgrade by 2025 to improve space situational awareness and communication capabilities under the former federal government’s $29.9 billion defence spending package.