Australia to Hold Talks Over Future of China's Darwin Port Lease
(Bloomberg) -- Australian officials will meet with local authorities this week to discuss the future of the Port of Darwin, currently leased for 99 years to Chinese-owned company Landbridge Group, as concerns remain over foreign ownership of the strategic asset.
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Representatives from the Northern Territory government will travel to Canberra on Thursday to discuss the port and 'steps necessary to secure its future,' according to a statement released Tuesday by NT Treasurer Bill Yan. He called for clarity from Prime Minister Anthony Albanese on possible funding for Darwin Port.
'We've been doing our due diligence now over many, many months to make sure that what we do around Landbridge and any acquisition of the port is done in the correct manner,' Yan told reporters on Tuesday.
Federal and territory authorities have been discussing how to deal with uncertainty around the port since November, when reports first emerged of potential financial difficulties at Landbridge. In an emailed statement on Tuesday, Landbridge Australia Non-Executive Director Terry O'Connor said the Port of Darwin isn't for sale.
'The minister's announcement today has come as a surprise and I can confirm that Landbridge and Darwin Port have not been involved in any discussions on the matter,' he said.
The Northern Territory government originally approved the lease to the Chinese company, a decision criticized by then President Barack Obama as Darwin — on the doorstep of a Southeast Asian region that's increasingly being contested by China — is also a base for thousands of US Marines. The federal government later changed laws that would allow it to force states and territories to cancel new or existing agreements with foreign governments.
Still, a Department of Defence review that began in 2021 found that there were no national security concerns as a result of the deal.
One of Albanese's lawmakers in the Northern Territory, Luke Gosling, told Sky News on Monday that the government is looking at buying the port back from Landbridge, potentially with 'a mix of federal government funds and institutional investors.'
'We can return the port to Australian hands where it should be and we can start to make the most of our strategic position in the Indo-Pacific,' Gosling said. The Labor lawmaker also questioned whether Landbridge was meeting its obligations under the terms of the lease.
Asked at a press conference in Sydney on Tuesday, Albanese didn't confirm or deny whether he was considering using federal money to buy back the port. 'We wouldn't have sold it in the first place,' he said.
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