Richard Marles visits USS Minnesota in Darwin trip
The US nuclear-powered submarine loitering in Darwin Harbour has been paid a visit by Deputy Prime Minister Richard Marles, who paused his election campaign to inspect the “exquisite” platforms that will one day serve in the Royal Australian Navy.
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The US nuclear-powered submarine loitering in Darwin Harbour has been paid a visit by Deputy Prime Minister Richard Marles, who paused his election campaign to inspect the “exquisite” platforms that will one day serve in the Royal Australian Navy.
On Saturday morning at East Arm, Mr Marles visited crew members of the USS Minnesota, which arrived in Darwin Harbour this week - and hinted more submarines would likely visit the NT in the future.
It is understood the vessel is undergoing maintenance work with the help of submarine tender USS Emory S. Land, which has also docked at East Arm.
Mr Marles took several hours out of his election campaign to personally tour the warship in a no-cameras visit.
Following the visit, Mr Marles said the USS Minnesota was a “an incredible piece of equipment”.
“It’s not my first time on a Virginia class submarine, but every time you go aboard, it’s you just realize how exquisite a platform it is,” he told the NT News.
“Obviously I feel excited because this class of submarine is going to be in our navy.”
Asked if Territorians could expect more nuclear-submarine sightings, Mr Marles said “I think it’s safe to say so”.
“This is the first visit of a US sub to Darwin in 28 years - in terms of an equivalent visit,” he said.
“It’s certainly not going to be 28 years until the next visit.”
The USS Minnesota is not the only Virginia-Class submarine having received maintenance in an Australian port, with the USS Hawaii having also undergone repairs in Perth last year.
“(That) was the first time Virginia-Class submarine undertook any form of maintenance outside of an American base,” Mr Marles reflected.
“So we are doing a step-up in security that’s very much being acknowledged by the US, but part of what’s going on here is we’re being included in the security architecture of how these submarines operate.”
However, the significance of USS Minnesota was overshadowed by other pressing questions at a media conference later that afternoon, with Mr Marles grilled on national security.
Pressed on whether the Albanese Government would revisit the possibility of bringing the Port of Darwin back into Australian hands, Mr Marles said it was a matter for the NT Government.
“The Port of Darwin should never have been leased (to Landbridge), and that’s been our position over a long period of time - it was our position in opposition,” he said.
“But ultimately, the Port of Darwin and its leasing is a matter between Landbridge and the NT Government.
“The NT Government is the owner, but we are working very closely with the NT Government about this and we’ll keep that engagement ongoing.”
Mr Marles also addressed the Chinese warships which recently lapped the Australian coastline, saying the government was “on top of this from the get-go”.
“We were surveilling the task group closely throughout the entire period that it was in the vicinity of Australia,” he said.
“And it really stands in stark contrast to what happened three years ago when we had Chinese navy ships within our region, and there was none of that surveillance that was being undertaken by the former government.”
Mr Marles was asked whether the Albanese Government would meet the Trump Administration’s request for the US’ allies to bump up defence expenditure to 3 per cent GDP.
“Well, we’re committed to increasing defense spending, which is what we’ve been doing,” he said.
“What you see from this government over the last three years is an increase over the medium term, an increase in the forward estimates, an increase right now.”
Mr Marles claimed the government’s $57 billion pledge to defence over the next decade would be a record-breaking peacetime spending spree.
“Now all of that is acknowledged in the US, the really big steps we’ve taken forward in terms of increased defense spending.”
Mr Marles said he was confident the Albanese Government would advance Australia’s standing with the US despite uncertainty surrounding the Trump Administration’s global outlook.
“I was in the US just over a month ago, and had a really positive meeting with my counterpart, Secretary, Pete Hegseth,” he said.
“I was the first of his foreign counterparts that I met with and that was not by accident.
“We feel very optimistic about our ability to work closely with the Trump Administration in terms of furthering our alliance furthering our key equities within the alliance.”
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Originally published as Richard Marles visits USS Minnesota in Darwin trip
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