
In the wake of a thorough federal review, the 99-year lease of the Port of Darwin, presently in the custody of a Chinese company, will persist undeterred. This decision arises from the conclusion that there’s no need to scrap the said lease following the governmental analysis.
The review’s results were disclosed mere weeks prior to the anticipated meeting in Beijing between Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and President Xi Jinping, his Chinese counterpart. This lease, valuing $506 million, was conferred to the Australian branch of Landbridge, a Chinese conglomerate in 2015. This was a collaborative venture between the Turnbull government and the NT government. It’s noteworthy to mention that Landbridge reportedly exhibits ties to the Chinese Communist Party.
The federal review was spearheaded by the Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet, resulting in affirming the adequacy of the existing monitoring mechanisms. Their findings assured that a robust regulatory framework was already in place to manage any potential risk to the crucial infrastructure without necessitating any change or cancellation to the lease. The department announced this resolution on Friday afternoon, confidently assuring Australian citizens that safety will not be compromised while concurrently maintaining the country’s appeal for foreign investments.
“The review considered the findings and outcomes of these previous assessments as well as considering whether risk management and mitigation arrangements are sufficient to protect Australia’s national security interests relating to the port,” the statement read.
The federal government’s reaction to these results was acceptance, removing any remaining barriers. Yet criticism wasn’t absent. Victorian Liberal Senator James Paterson openly criticised the decision, urging for greater transparency about this matter and demanding answers to why the Prime Minister’s previous concerns had supposedly dissolved.
In the background of these events, this review was initiated subsequent to Albanese government’s induction in 2022. This stemmed from the continued urging of defence experts, advocating for the termination of the lease on the grounds of national security. Parallel to this, a prior review conducted by the Defence Department on the orders of the Morrison government also concluded to the redundancy of cancelling or varying the lease.
Further stirring the pot, a disparaging report by the federal parliament’s joint intelligence committee, issued before the 2022 election, had urged for this deal to be discarded, leveraging powers conferred to the foreign minister. However, current decisions indicate otherwise.