Chapter 1: What is the main topic discussed in this episode?
This is a Squiz Podcast. We're your shortcut to being informed. The port of Darwin, our northernmost port and gateway to Asia, is strategically important for Australia's national security and trade. But for the past decade, it's been leased to a Chinese company.
That deal is back in the spotlight at the moment after the Albanese government flagged that it wants the port back, which could test our relationship with China. So in this quiz shortcut, we'll take a look at how the port ended up in Chinese hands, the steps being taken to get it back and what comes next. Squish Shortcuts is the backstory to the big news stories. I'm Alice Dempster.
And I'm Andrew Williams.
Andrew, this is a shortcut that we've been talking about for a while now because this story has been bubbling away for some time.
And it's one of those stories that has a fair bit of backstory behind it as well. So to go back to the basics, we're in Darwin, the capital city of the Northern Territory. Darwin is a strategically important city for Australia and the Port of Darwin is a big part of that.
It is.
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Chapter 2: Why is the Port of Darwin strategically important for Australia?
And that's why the Albanese government wants it back in Aussie hands. And this stems from a decision made by the NT government in 2015 when it leased the port to a Chinese-owned company that's called Landbridge for 99 years.
So just 88 years left to go on that lease, if you've done the maths. And we'll get into how that came about in a moment. But let's start by outlining why the city, which is our smallest capital in terms of population, is so important for our trade and national security. You only really have to look at a map of Australia to understand why that might be.
Yeah, exactly. Darwin sits at the top of the country, about 830 kilometres south of Indonesia. And because of that proximity, it's often referred to as our gateway to Asia.
Particularly for our exports like liquid gas, oil, minerals, live cattle, which all go through that gateway. And they're all relatively big money spinners for us. And on the import side... It's where the Northern Territory's fuel supplies come in. Fuel supplies are a pretty big deal at the moment.
So it's a vitally important port for us in terms of trade, but it's also got strategic military importance for us and our allies as well.
Yeah, the US military uses some of its stocks for their ships. And for anyone who didn't know, US troops have a continuous military presence in Darwin called the Marine Rotational Force. That was announced back in 2011 and it began in 2012.
It's grown from 200 troops to an annual rotation of 2,500 US Marines that are stationed in the city and they take part in training exercises with the Australian Defence Force. They're there to generally help maintain security in the Indo-Pacific region.
And the US also has troops based at the Royal Australian Air Force Base in Darwin, and the US military has been investing in upgrades to its infrastructure around the city. So it's got a pretty big investment in all of this. One of those has been a fuel storage facility and a new pipeline linking it to the port.
And something else to note is that America is currently planning to build a new expanded port to accommodate its naval ships. It reckons the current port of Darwin is too small for that.
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Chapter 3: How did the Port of Darwin come to be leased to a Chinese company?
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To find out more and to get a $40 sign-up and spend bonus, visit the link in today's episode notes. Fees and terms and conditions apply. See the PDS and TMD at revolut.com forward slash au. China's made no secret of its ambitions to grow its influence in the Indo-Pacific in order to be the dominant power in the region instead of the US, Andrew.
We've said it before, that puts us in a tricky position.
Sure does. China is a hugely important trade partner for us. A lot of the commodities that we ship from the port of Darwin are destined for China. It's the second largest trading partner for the Northern Territory after Japan. Exports last year totaled over $2 billion. But our military and political allegiance is to America. So as we mentioned earlier...
Our defence activities are intertwined with them. We've got security agreements on the go like AUKUS and Darwin is important to that alliance because of its strategic position.
PM Anthony Albanese says he wants to return the port of Darwin back to Australian control, saying his party would never have flogged this off. It was one of his promises leading into the federal election last year when he said, obviously, we're living in an uncertain world at the moment.
the idea that you'd have the major port in northern Australia owned by any foreign interest is not in Australia's national interest.
So that was a promise also being made by the coalition, but Labor won government and now it's time to make good on that promise. So the PM says they've been working on it even before the election by scoping out potential buyers in the months leading up, but returning it to Aussie hands on the grounds of national security
is threatening to make things very awkward in our newly stabilised sort of relationship with China.
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