Defence must improve its social licence in the Northern Territory to operate more effectively and tackle under-utilisation and under-development of local capability. The increase in military investment and activities that is underway in the Territory provides an opportunity to shift the dial beyond simply generating more work for Territorians to building enduring partnerships between Defence and the local community.

In short, Defence must cooperate more closely with the north to improve infrastructure and supply chain resilience, as called for in the National Defence Strategy.

While current Defence spending contributes at least 10 percent of the territory’s gross product, the economic and social contribution of Defence and national security activities in the north remain under-recognised by local residents and operate below potential. Likewise, the capability benefits accrued from greater local integration of defence and security activities are being lost.

The $14 billion investment in northern Defence facilities, as outlined in the National Defence Strategy, presents a significant opportunity to embed Defence more firmly within northern Australia’s social and economic fabric. In turn, this would benefit defence capability, economic growth and social development.

The more Territorians see defence forces engaging with local businesses and workers, the more they will recognise Defence as a key part of the northern economy and communities. They will also welcome collaboration with Defence if it provides infrastructure and services that benefit everyone. They will be more understanding of the inconveniences that can result from defence activity, such as loud aircraft noise and traffic hold-ups behind convoys, and more likely to accept the trade-offs inherent in housing developments for defence personnel.

A partnership approach needs to go well beyond localising spending on defence construction projects. Defence capability must be built through improving local industrial capacity as well as expanding and upskilling the workforce.

Long-term commitments for collaboration must be pledged by Defence and the governments of the Northern Territory, Western Australia and Queensland. They must establish lasting partnerships that enhance local capacity, improve the effectiveness of defence industry and benefit local organisations and businesses.

There are many fields in which cooperation and collaboration could deliver sustained benefits.

To start with, Defence should build logistics bases in the north and employ Territorians, rather than establishing them in Victoria, which seems to be the preference.

Another area for collaboration is building resilient supply chains, which would benefit not only Defence capabilities but also local access to more reliable and affordable supermarket supplies. The north’s road and rail routes are vulnerable to disruption through extreme weather, accidents and pandemics, resulting in delays, shortages and higher costs. We need a balanced solution that includes the southern logistics node of Bandiana and serious assessment of a central node such as Alice Springs (used by a variety of airlines for storage during the Covid-19 pandemic), plus northern nodes that utilise available land in Greater Darwin close to bases, ports, airports and multi-user loading facilities.

Another area for greater collaboration is improving the north’s liveability. Defence forces in the north suffer high rates of transfer requests, resulting in loss of skilled personnel. Defence members and their families cite difficulties in spouse employment and inadequate defence housing, as well as poor access to and quality of education and health and family services. Some of these issues are improving, but others, such as air connectivity and affordability, are getting worse, and we must continue to lean in.

Defence and the north must also collaborate on building accommodation for the workers engaged in the construction of military facilities. Although many will be on short-term contracts, travelling from elsewhere in Australia, they still need quality housing. Authorities should reach out to local Darwin companies who have the means to establish off-grid, fully self-contained camps.

Greater engagement with First Nations people is also needed as defence capability is built across the north.

As the tempo of defence activities and multi-nation joint exercises continues to increase, so too will the need for enhanced medical services. Defence is already investing in day-to-day medical centres to care for Australian and foreign personnel. This has benefitted local healthcare through increased availability of defence-contracted medical personnel who want to remain current in community medicine. Investments must continue to be made in the north’s rapid medical evacuation services and critical care facilities.

There are good reasons why successful approaches to local procurement need to evolve further. A more collaborative approach between Defence and its contractors would better address the challenges in achieving on-time and on-budget delivery in the north. Defence must establish cooperation in the early stages of project design and throughout delivery and avoid adversarial relationships that can sometimes characterise traditional contracting.

The economic impact of greater local engagement is highlighted in a 2023 study by the Master Builders Association. This involves maintaining and growing the Northern Territory’s share of Defence contracts, continuing to improve contract conditions for local firms, and training more workers locally and attracting them from interstate. There also needs to be a strategy to engage Northern Territory firms in advanced manufacturing of equipment and parts.

Deeper collaboration with the north would not only strengthen Defence capability but also improve social licence with local businesses, communities and defence personnel, which in turn will help align them in supporting a stronger, more sustainable Defence presence in the region—a key direction of the National Defence Strategy.