NSW Premier Dominic Perrottet’s proposal to make a Sydney naval base a port for commercial cruises has been panned by Defence officials.

Garden Island, currently exclusively a Royal Australian Navy base, would become mixed-use.

In response to the suggestion, Defence Minister Peter Dutton labelled Mr Perrottet “a great man with a bad idea”.

“I don’t want to spend too much time or resource on the issue, because the advice to me is pretty definite,” he told Ray Hadley.

‘No’ will be “the polite response at the appropriate time”.

Press PLAY below to hear the Defence Minister’s reasoning

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