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 been handed to the government. “We are now working with other agencies about facilitating consideration by the government of that information,” he told a Senate Estimates hearing on Oct. 27. The review also encompassed a deal where a Chinese-backed company acquired a 50 percent share in the Port of Newcastle in March 2018, but no immediate concerns were found. The review was ordered earlier this year following the termination of two Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) agreements signed between Victoria’s state leader Daniel Andrews and Beijing’s National Development and Reform Commission. Foreign Minister Marise Payne, …