How Scott Morrison spent Day 1 of his NT tour
Prime Minister Scott Morrison started by inspecting cutting edge military helicopters at a military base, and ended it by polishing off some beers at a beloved Darwin pub. SEE HOW IT WENT.
Northern Territory
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IT started out with a $747 million announcement to upgrade four Defence bases and ended with beers at The Cav.
Prime Minister Scott Morrison yesterday spent his first day in the Northern Territory capital in nearly two years and was left with a lasting impression.
Mr Morrison also saw first hand our world-class Howard Springs quarantine facility which has been on the frontline keeping Australians safe during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Prime Minister started the first day of his tour of the Top End at the Robertson Barracks in Darwin, inspecting military equipment including a US Osprey tilt-rotor aircraft.
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As revealed yesterday by the NT News, Mr Morrison has vowed to revitalise four military installations to help Australian troops better train.
It comes amid rising tensions with China, with Department of Home Affairs Secretary Mike Pezzullo sparking controversy in recent days by saying Australia could “again hear the beating drums” of war.
Mr Morrison however said the massive $747 million cash injection into the Territory’s facilities, and in particular to the Bradshaw Field Training Area, was designed to maintain peace in the Asia-Pacific region.
“You need to ensure you have the defence capability, that enables you to protect and defend Australia’s interests in that region,” he said.
“This enables us to ensure there’s an appropriate balance, particularly in partnership with our United States allies to ensure we can promote an environment where peace will be the outcome.”
During his tour, Mr Morrison met with members of Australia’s armed forces as well as touring US marines.
He inspected sniper rifles, three helicopters, a number of armoured vehicles, a drone and even met with a bomb detection dog, Lena.
The massive injection into defence will mean upgrades for training fields at the Robertson Barracks in Darwin, Kangaroo Flats near Berry Springs, Mount Bundey southeast of Humpty Doo, and the 9284 sqkm Bradshaw Field, near Timber Creek.
The promise to spend $747 million is a significant increase on the previous projections that the Commonwealth would splash roughly $500 million upgrading the four facilities,
Mr Morrison said the “strategic environment” meant mean the Commonwealth was willing to “significantly ramp up and upgrade that project to what it is now”.
“That’s why you invest $747 million, to ensure that your defence forces have the best training environments possible to … to keep Australians safe,” he said.
The Prime Minister also slammed previous governments for neglecting to modernise Australia’s military, saying it was a “disgrace” that spending had fallen to its lowest levels since World War Two when the Coalition came to power in 2013.
“We have worked hard over these last seven years to ensure that we’ve raised that to 2%, and in fact we will now start exceeding that,” Mr Morrison said.
Among new facilities promised include a medical facility and urban combat training facility at Bradshaw Field.
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