AUSMIN: US to spend ‘thumpingly large’ amount of money in Darwin to build military fuel reserve
THE United States is set to spend a ‘thumpingly’ large amount of money in Darwin, after high-level bilateral talks in Washington put the city at the centre of strategic plans for a new fuel reserve.
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THE United States is set to spend a “thumpingly” large amount of money in Darwin, after high-level bilateral talks in Washington put the city at the centre of strategic plans for a new fuel reserve.
Chief Minister Michael Gunner yesterday declined to go into detail beyond confirming he had spoken on Monday to Australia’s Defence Minister Linda Reynolds, who is in Washington with Foreign Affairs Minister Marise Payne for AUSMIN talks with their US counterparts.
According to The Australian the two countries have established a “top-secret defence co-operation” framework to counter Chinese military aggression, with Darwin’s strategic geographical position at the centre.
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It is understood the framework includes the creation of a bilateral team to co-ordinate decisions on joint operations and the deployment of hardware and personnel across the Indo Pacific region.
US Studies Centre research fellow Brendan Thomas-Noone told The Australian the new defence planning arrangements were the biggest development in the bilateral defence relationship since the annual marine rotational force began in 2012.
“What I am allowed to say is it will be thumpingly large, but the US government will be spending the money to see (the fuel reserve facility) built and the Australian government have done the deal with the US government,” Mr Gunner said.
The number of Australian Defence personnel stationed in the Northern Territory has declined in the past decade, with Mr Gunner firm that he had continued to lobby Prime Minister Scott Morrison to review where the nation’s armed forces are based.
“I don’t think they should be in Adelaide, for example, defending penguins, they should be in Darwin,” Mr Gunner said.
“I think it makes sense for people to train in the conditions they are probably more likely to operate in.”
Australia, as part of the AUSMIN talks, supported the United States in its current muscular stance against China, though Ms Payne said the nation would not act in any way to damage its own relationship with Beijing.
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