In 2011 the Minister for Defence Hon Stephen Smith announced an independent review of enhanced cruise ship access to Garden Island naval base in Sydney. The independent review was led by Dr Allan Hawke.
The review:
- assessed whether there was scope to enhance cruise ship access to Garden Island without adversely impacting on its priority role of supporting Navy maritime operations, including ship repair and maintenance
- focussed on opportunities for greater civil-military cooperation in the use of finite berthing resources for very large cruise ships visiting Sydney
- took into account the increase in use of Garden Island by new, larger Royal Australian Navy ships.
The review was published in 2012