BUILDINGS, WORKS AND HOUSING

A programme for the provision of 475 houses for R.A.N. personnel will begin during 1964-65. This big expansion in housing is a result of the 1964 Defence Review designed to make service conditions more attractive.

Some £773,000 will be made available for housing this financial year, compared with £224,000 towards the cost of 133 houses and flats last year.

The estimate for expenditure in 1 964-65 on Works and Buildings, exclusive of housing, is £2,010,000.It provides, among other things, for improvements at Garden Island Dockyard in Sydney, development of the Kingswood Armament Depot, and for workshops and technical facilities at the R.A.N. Apprentice Training Establishment.

During the last financial year, work was completed on various accommodation units, stores and workshops throughout Australia, while in Sydney construction began on the new Kuttabul Barracks at Potts Point.

FINANCE

The Navy Estimate for the current financial year is £69,212,000, being £69,222,000 for the Navy Programme less an estimated credit of £10,000 for supplies and services provided by the Navy for and at the expense of other Governments. The chart on this page shows the major categories of proposed expenditure for the Navy in 1964-65, compared with actual expenditure in the previous financial year.

NAVY EXPENDITURE

The estimate for the current year is expected to exceed expenditure in 1963-64 by £13,661,000.

The principal variations are

Naval Pay—Increase £3,187,000 for new pay scale (£1,600,000) basic wage increase (£618,000) and additional numbers (969,000).

Civil Pay—Increase £866,000 for basic wage increase (£438,000) and additional numbers (£428,000).

Maintenance of Equipment—Increase £446,000 for maintenance of increased numbers of ships and aircraft.

Naval Construction—Increase £8,103,000 for start of construction of two Type 12 frigates and to progress construction of an Escort Maintenance Ship, four OBERON submarines, three Guided Missile Destroyem and production of the IKARA anti- submarine weapon.

Capital Equipment—Increase £508,000 for additional communications, radar, sonar and minesweeping equipment. Buildings, Works and Sites—Increase £1,361,000 mainly for additional houses in all States and barrack accommodation at Sydney, Nowra and Flinders Naval Depot. Aircraft Purchase—Decrease £1,434,000 due to completion of purchase programme for Wessex Helicopters.

Navy Snapshot 64-65 - Next Page

Previous Page