US-funded military fuel reserve planned for Darwin will be ‘very large’, says Defence Minister Linda Reynolds

THE US Department of Defence will launch a tender process for a multimillion-dollar Darwin fuel reserve farm — which will be ‘very, very large’ — once a location is agreed upon, says Australia’s Defence Minister Linda Reynolds

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THE US Department of Defence will start a commercial tender process for a multimillion-dollar Darwin fuel reserve farm once an agreement has been reached on a location and other technical details, Australia’s Defence Minister Linda Reynolds says.

Senator Reynolds said talks between the US Ambassador to Australia Arthur B Culvahouse Jr, NT Chief Minister Michael Gunner and herself in relation to the fuel reserve facility on Thursday were extremely productive.

Senator Reynolds said the Morrison Government’s $8bn investment upgrading and building new Defence facilities in the Northern Territory and skilling the workforce were also a focus of discussions.

An Australian Defence Force military fuel site in Cairns. Picture: Brendan Radke

“It is our intention to build a US funded commercially operated strategic military fuel reserve in Darwin and we are working through the details of that,” she said.

“It is an incredibly important project, not just for the US, but also for Australia.

“This will be a very, very large fuel reserve. So we will have to work through the technical details, location, and all of the other conditions that you would expect us to work through.’’

Senator Reynolds said the US Ambassador to Australia had travelled with her to Darwin to talk with the Chief Minister “so that we can really start getting into the details of the fuel reserve and get an agreement on how we are going to proceed”.

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“In relation to the fuel reserve, once we have worked through the necessary arrangements the US Department of Defence will commence a commercial tender process,” she said. “Importantly the significance of this fuel reserve will provide increased fuel redundancy for both the US and Australia for future training activities.

“It will also support our increasing engagement with regional partners across the Indonesian Pacific, and it will also provide increased fuel redundancy for regional crises response operations for both countries.

“It’s too early to say what the infrastructure requirements might be needed to support a fuel reserve facility because we have to work out with the Territory Government first of all where it would be located.’’

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“We have an in principle agreement with the Unites States and both of us have a strong desire for the fuel reserve to occur, but we have to have the discussions with the NT government in terms of location and also the works that would go around that.

It will improve our ability to undertake activities in the region – such as multilateral exercises with regional partners or joint humanitarian assistance and disaster relief operations.