Peter Dutton says a visit from Trump ‘great for our country’, ‘what better place’ go than the NT

The opposition leader says the Northern Territory would be the ideal place for a US Presidential visit, telling media: “what better place to visit than the Northern Territory”.

Federal Opposition leader Peter Dutton at the Ross Engineering and Hardy Fence factory in Alice Springs. Picture: Gera Kazakov

The opposition leader says the Northern Territory would be the ideal place for a US Presidential visit, telling media: “what better place to visit than the Northern Territory”.

Federal Opposition Leader Peter Dutton told this masthead he would welcome a visit from the newly sworn in US President.

“I actually think our alliance with the USA is critical to our future security and prosperity,” he said.

“It would be great for our country if the President were to visit our shores and what better place to visit than the Northern Territory.”

President Trump’s administration has recently been linked to the Territory via gas giant Tamboran Resources.

It has been reported Tamboran chief executive Joel Riddle flew to Washington to seek a $5 billion ($8b AUD) investment from the Trump administration – and other players in Washington – for a new data centre in the Territory.

Then-Prime Minister Julia Gillard walks away arm in arm with then-US President Barack Obama after arriving in Darwin in 2011, the last visit from a US president to the Top End.

The proposed data centre could service defence installations such as Joint Defence Facility Pine Gap, Mr Riddle has told the Australian Financial Review.

Tamboran has gas projects throughout the Beetaloo basin in the Territory, and is backed by Liberty Energy – whose founder, Chris Wright, has become energy secretary in the Trump administration.

Front page of the NT News on November 15, 2011, in the lead up to President Barack Obama's visit to Darwin.

A Tamboran Resources spokesperson has previously told this masthead the company is looking to “deliver reliable and affordable energy for all Australians”.

“We are also looking at opportunities to support sectors in the new economy with high energy requirements that could be supported by the Beetaloo’s onshore resource, such as growing global demand for data centres,” the spokesperson said.

US President Donald Trump speaks before signing the Laken Riley Act in the East Room of the White House in Washington, DC, January 29, 2025. The Laken Riley Act -- which mandates the detention of undocumented immigrants charged with theft-related crimes -- is named for a 22-year-old student murdered by a Venezuelan man with no papers who was wanted for shoplifting. (Photo by ROBERTO SCHMIDT / AFP)

Responding to a question regarding Tamboran’s data centre proposal in Alice Springs, Mr Dutton said “if there’s an opportunity for investment to be made in the Northern Territory, we should be facilitating it”.

“Australia is becoming a hard place to do business,” he said.

The first and only visit from a US president to the Top End was when President Barack Obama visited Darwin in November, 2011.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said US President Donald Trump “will always be welcome in Australia”.

“In the discussion that I had with (Mr Trump), I made it clear that he would always be welcome here and we spoke very constructively about engagement,” he said.

Originally published as Peter Dutton says a visit from Trump ‘great for our country’, ‘what better place’ go than the NT