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The Labor government is on the hunt for a buyer for the port of Darwin despite the Chinese-owned company who holds the lease insisting it is not for sale.
Anthony Albanese revealed the plan after calling in to local Darwin radio on Friday afternoon in a deliberate attempt to get ahead of a similar announcement the Coalition made on Saturday.
Landbridge Group took control of the port in 2015 after the Northern Territory government signed a $506m agreement while in financial duress. The deal gave Landbridge 100% operational control of the port.
In 2023 before a trip to Beijing, Albanese ruled out cancelling the company’s lease.
But speaking with ABC Darwin, the prime minister indicated he wanted commercial negotiations to take place, and was “prepared to go down the road of taxpayer direct involvement” if needed.
He confirmed that two options were on the table – for the port to be privately owned by an Australian company, or return to being a government asset. The key, he said, is that it “be in Australian hands”.
“We are trying to see if there is a private buyer, particularly through superannuation funds,” he said. “The [Country Liberal party] should have never flogged it off.”
Meanwhile, Peter Dutton announced on Saturday the Coalition would ‘move immediately’ to remove Port of Darwin from Chinese ownership
Making the announcement in Darwin, Dutton said an elected Coalition government would “move immediately” to secure the city’s Port and remove it from Chinese ownership.
“I’m pleased to announce today that an elected Coalition government will move immediately to secure the Darwin port and to make sure that we can bring that national asset … back into Australian ownership or into a model where we have greater assurance about the operator and the way in which the lease operates,” Dutton said.
“There’s been a lot of debate over this issue for a long period of time. It’s clear that a mistake was made many years ago in relation to the lease and the way in which that was undertaken by the then territory government. But that is the past, and we need to deal with the strategic circumstances that we face at the moment.”
Albanese said the government would have “more to say” before the federal election on 3 May, but he argued Landbridge has “not had the investment into the port that’s required to bring it up to scratch”.
“We don’t think that it is being utilised enough for Darwin,” he said. “Darwin has an enormous potential to be a growth area of increasing our exports through the port of Darwin, and that is part of the context that we’re dealing with here.”
Albanese said a majority of ports around Australia, like airports, are owned by superannuation funds, “which means that they’re owned by the Australian people and help to make contribution to their savings.”
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Albanese also said the matter had been raised with the current and previous Northern Territory governments “over a period of time”, but that the “commonwealth has also had separate discussions as well.”
Terry O’Connor, the non-executive director for Landbridge in Australia, said the company has not been involved in “any discussions” with the federal government concerning the lease arrangements.
“As previously stated, and confirmed by our owner, the port is not for sale,” O’Connor said.
“Landbridge considers the port a long-term investment that has reported record operational performance this year. We expect this growth to continue in the future.”
Immediately after Albanese’s interview, Dutton told News Corp: “In the current geopolitical environment, it is vital that this piece of critical infrastructure, which is directly opposite to the Larrakeyah Defence Precinct, is operated by a trusted, Commonwealth approved entity.”
The deal struck by Landbridge Group in 2015, resulting from a tender process begun in 2014, gave it 100% operational control of the port.
