Zali Steggall MP demands answers over secretive HMAS Penguin divestment
18 August 2026
The Albanese government must release the environmental, heritage and contamination assessments conducted at HMAS Penguin before pushing ahead with plans to partially divest the site, Community Strong MP Zali Steggall says.
As reported in The Australian today, a Freedom of Information request submitted by Steggall’s office sought basic, site-specific information about HMAS Penguin, including environmental values, contamination and PFAS, heritage obligations, public access, Defence functions and conditions for any future disposal.
Defence identified just two documents but refused to release them, citing national security and other exemptions. Steggall said the level of secrecy was extraordinary.
“I’m not asking for the tactics used by Navy divers at HMAS Penguin to covertly blow up an enemy ship. I’m asking for basic environmental, heritage and public-interest information,” she said.
“This is a crucial public asset and Australians deserve to know what risks and obligations come with any proposal to divest it.”
The FOI request sought information including:
* Environmental values at HMAS Penguin that warrant protection (such as bushland, ecological communities, threatened species or habitats)
* Details of any contamination such as PFAS
* Consideration of public access to foreshore areas or walking tracks near HMAS Penguin after divestment, and if this would be maintained or restricted
* Analysis of the cost, feasibility or operational implications of moving HMAS Penguin’s functions (such as Navy training or medical facilities) to new locations versus retaining them.
* Assessment of heritage considerations at HMAS Penguin, including copies of any Heritage Management Plans, any obligations under federal environment law and details of heritage values that must be preserved in any divestment.
The Department of Finance has engaged consultancy firm KPMG to assist with the Defence estate divestment program, including due diligence work such as environmental, heritage and contamination assessments – a move Steggall said raised serious questions about the government’s decision-making.
“It beggars belief that the government would not assess environmental, contamination and heritage issues before deciding to divest HMAS Penguin – and is now outsourcing this vital work after the fact,” she said. “And if this work was completed before the decision, the government should release the information to the community.”
Steggall is also demanding clarity over whether HMAS Penguin has been transferred from Defence to Finance – and if not, when it will happen, how the public will be notified and what will prevent buildings becoming empty and derelict.
“The government should not be quietly moving a nationally significant Defence site between agencies without proper public scrutiny,” she said. “Defence has the expertise to maintain these buildings. Moving them into a property disposal portfolio risks them becoming neglected and abandoned.”
Steggall said HMAS Penguin has enormous cultural and historic value, and “once that heritage is lost, it cannot be brought back.”
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