‘We need to get on the front foot quickly and ensure the new Biden administration hears … Territorians are prepared to roll their sleeves up and get to work’: former Chief Minister Denis Burke

THE Territory government is being presented with a rare opportunity to convince the United States that Darwin is the logical location to build a naval base … writes DENIS BURKE

THE Northern Territory government is being presented with a rare opportunity to convince the United States that Darwin is the logical location to build a naval base to host part of its Indo Pacific fleet and build on its current military commitments to strengthen Australian /US force posture in the region.

Last week, US Secretary of Navy Kenneth Braithwaite, announced the recreation of the First Fleet with a principal role of providing a permanent strong naval presence in the Indo Pacific region.

“This will reassure our partners and allies of our presence and commitment to this region, while ensuring any potential adversary knows we are committed to global presence, to ensure rule of law and freedom of the seas,” he said.

MORE OPINIONS AND EDITORIALS

Government must be open on prison riot report

The Territory’s 120 Most Powerful list: Numbers 120 to 101

Tender shows Territory Labor govt still struggles with transparency and accountability

Mr Braithwaite told the US Senate’s Armed Services Committee that while the First Fleet would be expeditionary, “we are still determining from where that fleet would operate”.

Mr Braithwaite has stressed that the new fleet wouldn’t necessarily be based in any single location in the Indo-Pacific region, but many analysts suggest Singapore is the natural first choice for basing.

However it is clear from commentary coming from senior government sources, the Singapore government is reluctant to be viewed by China as picking sides by such a move.

Australia, on the other hand, should have no such concerns. The US/Australia military alliance is clear, strong and enduring.

In a January 2020 fact sheet, the US Department of State described Australia as a “vital ally, partner, and friend” of the US.

“The United States and Australia maintain a robust relationship underpinned by shared democratic values, common interests, and cultural affinities. Economic, academic, and people-to-people ties are vibrant and strong,” it reads.

“Bilateral defence ties and co-operation are exceptionally close. US and Australian forces have fought together in every significant conflict since World War I. The Australia, New Zealand, and United States (ANZUS) Security Treaty, concluded in 1951, is Australia’s pre-eminent security treaty alliance and enjoys broad bipartisan support.”

US ships like the aircraft carrier USS Nimitz and the guided-missile cruiser USS Philippine Sea, seen here in the Strait of Hormuz in September, could one day be based in Darwin as part of the American Indo Pacific fleet. Picture: Elliot Schaudt/ US Navy/AFP

The people of Darwin share a special bond with the US as 88 US naval servicemen lay in Darwin Harbour with their ship the USS Peary, killed during the first bombing of Darwin on February 15, 1942.

One of the first servicemen killed during that first attack on Australia was a US Kittyhawk pilot Lieutenant Robert Buel, whose plaque stands at the Peary Memorial.

Australian Strategic Policy Institute executive director Peter Jennings, a former deputy secretary for Strategy in the Department of Defence, said the US had long realised it needed to lift its naval presence in the Indian Ocean.

“When Australia negotiated the US Marine Corps’ ‘rotational presence’ operating out of Darwin, the plan agreed with Barack Obama in 2010 was ultimately to locate some major US warships at the Australian navy base HMAS Stirling, near Perth,” Jennings said.

“That trail went dry for some years because our own Defence Department has never met an opportunity it could not squander by prevaricating. It’s time to restart this conversation.

“We should propose to Biden that elements of the US First Fleet should operate out of Stirling and from the Port of Darwin. If Singapore is reluctant to host a land-based headquarters, then we should offer to be the host.

Denis Burke and wife Annette Burke. Mr Burke is a former Chief Minister of the Northern Territory.

The way to overcome any reluctance in Washington from a new administration considering adopting a late Trump announcement would be for Australia to step forward and offer to bear some of the cost of hosting these ships.”

In response to the obvious outcry that the Port of Darwin was now Chinese-owned, Jennings said the Australian government had the power to take the ownership back “and it should now work with the Biden administration to make the Port of Darwin and HMAS Stirling the military and strategic hubs they need to be”.

I don’t share Jennings’ concern for the current ownership of the Port of Darwin. It is a commercial entity and Australian ownership and control could occur with the stroke of a pen if necessary. Landbridge would probably willingly vacate.

However, note Jennings’ comments regarding a prevaricating Australian Defence Department squandering opportunity. This is where the NT government should focus its efforts.

I have read the recently released Territory Economic Reconstruction Commission Report relating to Defence and disappointingly note only two pages and three highly generalised recommendations of the type that have been around for years.

Nowhere could I detect the energy and initiatives that are needed to help motivate a “prevaricating Defence Department”.

Jennings points the way forward. The NT government has suitable locations for large- scale development of the type needed. And if the federal government was willing also to bear some of the cost of hosting these ships, the proposal becomes more compelling.

China is asserting its economic and military muscle in the Asia Pacific region. It seeks to humiliate Australia for perceived insults to China and is playing a long game, betting that pressure from industry groups dependant on China trade and a wounded economy will weaken our resolve to stand by our values and force Australia into a humiliating backdown.

China won’t moderate its behaviour unless or until it realises it has embarked on a zero sum game.

A new President is about to take charge in the US and it remains to be seen whether this new administration will confirm raising the First Fleet as stated by Trump’s current Secretary of Navy or let this initiative slide away with the end of the Trump administration.

Action is needed now and close and enduring allies are behind the game in dealing with this assertive and highly offensive China.

OFFER EXTENDED: Amazing NT News subscription offer: Read everything for $1

Biden has called China’s President Xi Jinping a bully and Jake Sullivan, Biden’s choice for National Security Adviser has tweeted that the US “will continue to stand shoulder to shoulder with Australia” in response to China’s increasingly hostile actions towards this country.

Australia is part of Asia and the Top End remains strategically important. We need to get on the front foot quickly and ensure the new Biden administration hears clearly and directly from our Chief Minister that Territorians are prepared to roll their sleeves up and get to work to do everything possible to assist our ally to see the value of a strong naval presence based out of Darwin and so strengthen our ability to deliver a shared response in stabilising the region.

Opportunity Knocks – I hope someone from the NT government is listening and knows how to open the door.

Denis Burke was Chief Minister of the Northern Territory between February 1999 and August 2001