Luke Gosling blasts CLP decision to lease Darwin Port to Chinese company

Solomon MP Luke Gosling says a federal review decision not to cancel the lease of Darwin Port to a Chinese company is ‘not the end of the story’ and it should return to Australian hands.

Federal Solomon MP Luke Gosling says he accepts his government’s decision not to cancel the “stupid” lease of Darwin Port to a Chinese company, but he still wants to see the strategic asset returned to Australian hands.

In 2015 the then CLP-led Territory government awarded Chinese-owned Landbridge Group a $506m bid to lease the port for 99 years.

Since then, concern has been expressed across different government, defence and private sectors that the lease could open the strategically located port to national security risks.

“The obvious point to make is that it was a stupid decision, it should never have happened,” Mr Gosling told Mix 104.9’s Katie Woolf on Tuesday.

“Universally across this country … Australians do not understand why such a stupid decision was made.”

The CLP awarded Chinese-owned Landbridge Group a 99-year lease of Darwin Port in 2015. Picture: Floss Adams

Last week a federal government review into the lease decided it would not strip Landbridge of the contract.

Mr Gosling, a former Australian Army officer, said he accepted the review findings but “I don’t accept that this is the end of the story”.

“There are willing buyers out there – Australian entities backed by super funds are willing buyers of the port. I think we should be exploring all avenues if this is a commercial deal,” he said.

“I maintain that the Darwin Port should be in Australian hands, and Labor would not have leased it for 99 years.

“It is a stupid decision because such critical infrastructure in the North should be in Australian hands.

“Quite frankly, this is our country, and we should have control of such vital assets, particularly in this time of unprecedented uncertainty, since the Second World War.

“At this point the government has said that there’s not a case for cancelling the lease … doesn’t mean there won’t be in the future, and it also doesn’t mean that there can’t be a commercial deal here.”

Solomon MP Luke Gosling said leasing the port was “a stupid decision”. Pic: Pema Tamang Pakhrin

The review found it was not necessary to vary or cancel the lease as “sufficient” and “robust” regulatory systems existed to manage any risks to critical infrastructure.

Mr Gosling suggested current regional stability and diplomatic relations between Australia and China meant cancelling the lease was not in the national interest.

“Look, if we were the Philippines and we’re having very concerning interactions with the Chinese navy in our waters, well, the situation would be different,” he said.

“Hopefully, things remain fair, open, and peaceful in the Indo-Pacific. There may be a time in the future when that lease has to be cancelled, but at this point, the decision is it’s not in the national interest to cancel it.”