Senate calls for Defence white paper

The Senate has called on the Turnbull government to release its long-awaited Defence white paper by February 22.

It's also called for the release of a scoping study into the future ownership and operations for Defence Housing Australia, following two motions from independent senator Jacqui Lambie on Tuesday.

Government frontbencher Scott Ryan said the government would release the white paper "at a time of its choosing" and that the scoping study was a confidential document that contained sensitive information.