SYDNEY — Former Prime Minister John Howard urged the Australian government to reverse its plans to sell defense land in prime locations at a rally Sunday characterized by multipartisan bonhomie on-stage — and angry calls for Prime Minister Anthony Albanese to resign off stage.
Howard told a crowd of a few thousand gathered in Sydney near the site of its Victoria Barracks that he would be the first to congratulate Albanese if he changed course on the land selloff.
Also present at the rally were members of the nationalist One Nation party. Orange shirt-clad members of the far-right party and others wearing blue Make Albo Go Away (MAGA) hats called instead for Albanese to resign or be sacked.
Decades of local opposition to higher density, often characterized by not-in-my-backyard politics, has left Sydney with one of the most expensive housing markets in the world. Most mainstream political parties have responded, now declaring themselves “YIMBY.” The defense land selloff is one exception to this pendulum reversal, uniting groups across the political spectrum.
Few things unite Australia like its Australia and New Zealand Army Corps legend, the belief that the values embodied by its armed forces, such as mateship, are central to its national character.
So the decision by the Albanese government to sell Department of Defense assets around the country, including prime harbor-front properties in Sydney, to raise 3 billion Australian dollars (in gross terms), or 1.8 billion (net), may seem like a strange one.
With calls to reduce the deficit and the need to find land for housing in Australia’s sprawling cities, the government thought it was on firm footing disposing of properties it says are surplus to requirements.
Deputy Prime Minister Richard Marles has argued his Department of Defense is not best placed to preserve the heritage value of the sites, and that money for their upkeep would be better spent on future fighting capability.
The selloff proposal has met fierce resistance across parties: from the conservative Liberal-National Coalition, the traditional opposition in Australia; right-wing nationalist One Nation; the left-wing Greens; and even members of Albanese’s own party, his Labor colleagues in the NSW state government.
The Albanese government has been urged by its opponents to spend less to lower inflation and prevent the need for further interest rate hikes. But many savings measures have been blocked: from its attempts to make the private health insurance rebate and veterans’ allied health entitlements less generous, to charging residents of aged care more for services.
Howard, a conservative Liberal, told the crowd he is “all in favor of governments spending less and taxing less” but that was not the issue at hand. “What is more important to the soul of a nation? [Than] its history, its heritage, and those that have gone before,” he said. “You don’t give that up for a few bob.”
Howard’s speech veered from his memories of seeing Australian cricket legend Don Bradman bat at the nearby Sydney Cricket Ground, to Victoria Barracks’ history as the departure point for soldiers bound for the 1885 Sudan War, to his description of the 28-degree Celsius day — 4.3 degrees above the historical late-October average — as “seasonably warm.”
Tony Abbott, another former Prime Minister and now the Liberal Party president tasked with combating the rise of One Nation, said it was “wonderful” to gather with Australians who respect its history and heritage. “And isn’t it wonderful to be at this protest, where the only flag on display is the Australian flag — and not the Palestinian one.”
Labor’s NSW parliamentary secretary for transport, Marjorie O’Neill, one of the protest organizers, was jeered by the One Nation-heavy crowd: first, for beginning the rally with an acknowledgment of country for Australia’s First Nations people and for 150 Aboriginal men who had signed up to serve the defense forces at Victoria Barracks; and then again for omitting mention of One Nation as she credited the multilateral coalition of Labor, Liberal and Greens against the sale.
Liberal senator Jess Collins, her co-organizer, added “I will acknowledge that we do have One Nation here too” — to loud cheers.
Independent MP Allegra Spender urged the crowd to join a convoy to Canberra being organized for Nov. 23 to protest the sale.
One Nation members approached ahead of the rally declined to comment, due to party rules forbidding speaking to the media.
Justin Bowra, a member of the Greens and local resident, told POLITICO that “despite all the political colours, whether you’re orange, blue, red or green, we all agree on one thing: The wrong thing to do is sell off the land to the highest bidder for private development.”
“The right thing to do is let the community decide, let locals decide, and make those decisions with the benefit of all Australians in mind rather than turning them into a bunch of condos.”
The NSW Government, led by Labor’s Chris Minns, has also opposed the sale, but has no constitutional power to stop it, leaving the ball in Albanese and Marles’ court. Abbott told the rally that “people power” will prevail.
Former Army chief Lt. Gen. Ken Gillespie told the rally that with politically motivated violence on the rise in Australia, including the Bondi antisemitic terror attack of Dec. 14, 2025, it was important to retain the barracks, which is used for counter-terrorism exercises by the Special Air Service. “When police need military support in a crisis, minutes matter,” he said.
Marles angered many by previously dismissing those campaigning against the sale as “a few former generals who liked hanging out there.” The description appears particularly inapt now — a poor read on the practical difficulty of opposing so many political interests simultaneously, and an underestimation of the potent symbolism of the ANZAC legend.
