The Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has promised the government will publically release their review of Darwin Harbour’s 99-year lease to a Chinese company with direct ties to the Chinese Communist Party. Darwin Port, an important gateway and strategic resource hub for Australia, was leased to Chinese-owned Landbridge in 2015 for 99 years at a…

Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has confirmed that the Labor government will review the 99-year lease of Darwin Port to Landbridge, a Chinese company. “What I’ve said is what I said prior to the election, and I will do what I said,” Albanese said in a press conference on June 8 with Natasha Fyles, Northern…

Australia’s governing Liberal-National Party—currently in caretaker mode due to an election—plans to build a new $1.5 billion port facility in the country’s far north city of Darwin to replace an existing China-leased port, the country’s incumbent deputy prime minister has announced. On the campaign trail in Darwin on April 11, Australian Deputy Prime Minister Barnaby…

A review by Australia’s Defence Department has advised the federal government against overturning the controversial 99-year lease of the Port of Darwin to Chinese company Landbridge, citing a lack of national security grounds. The review, initiated by Defence Minister Peter Dutton—amid escalating tensions between Beijing and Canberra—was tasked with investigating with whether the Chinese-owned port posed…

The Australian Defence Department has completed its assessment of the controversial Chinese-leased Port of Darwin, signalling an impending decision from the federal government on whether to scrap the deal. Peter Tesch, deputy secretary of strategy and policy at the Department of Defence (DOD), said the review, which the national security committee ordered in May, had…

Chinese-backed Landbridge’s plans to build a six-star hotel across from the controversial Port of Darwin has been scuttled after the Northern Territory (NT) government refused to extend its lease. The site is situated on prime waterfront land, adjacent to apartments and the Darwin cruise ship terminal. Landbridge had originally earmarked the site for a $200…

Queensland federal MP George Christensen has backed a motion by Bob Katter to reclaim the Port the Darwin from a Chinese company that owns a 99-year lease amid concerns about the security of Australia’s north. The motion will call on the Australian government to force Chinese company Landbridge to sell the Port of Darwin to…

Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison has not ruled out reviewing the controversial 99-year lease of the Port of Darwin to a Chinese-backed entity. “If there is advice from the Defence Department or our security agencies that change their view about the national security implications of any piece of critical infrastructure,” Morrison told reporters. “We have…

The Port of Darwin lease is one of many deals that have been sewn up with China and one Foreign Minister Marise Payne could consider ending after she tore up Victoria’s the Belt and Road initiative with the Asian giant last week. The Northern Territory government signed a 99-year lease for the Port of Darwin…