Federal Opposition Leader Anthony Albanese denies he’s at odds with Michael Gunner over Darwin Port issue

FEDERAL Opposition Leader Anthony Albanese has rejected claims he is at odds with the Northern Territory’s Chief Minister over the issue of the Port of Darwin’s controversial Chinese lease.

• Opposition Leader Anthony Albanese stops in at Rapid Creek Markets at start of three-day NT tour
• Port of Darwin’s Chinese lease in the spotlight at inquiry
• Darwin Port lease in need of ‘critical’ review, says Opposition leader Anthony Albanese

FEDERAL Opposition Leader Anthony Albanese has rejected claims he is at odds with the Northern Territory’s Chief Minister over the issue of the Port of Darwin’s controversial Chinese lease.

For months, Mr Albanese has been calling for the Port of Darwin’s lease to Chinese-owned company Landbridge to be reviewed as a part of the federal government’s crackdown on agreements with foreign governments.

Landbridge was sold a 99-year lease of Port of Darwin for $506m in 2015, under the watch of then CLP chief minister Adam Giles.

Mr Albanese, who visited Crocodylus Park on Monday, said the port should never have left Australian hands.

However, Chief Minister Michael Gunner has already ruled out buying it back.

Anthony Albanese with ‘Albo’ the baby croc at Crocodylus Park yesterday. Picture: Katrina Bridgeford

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“We can’t change what happened in the past,” he said.

“If Canberra has a spare $500m I’ve got a list of new job-creating projects they can pick from.”

Mr Albanese said the Chief Minister’s position on the issue was “absolutely understandable” and denied the pair were at odds.

He also held firm to the belief that there was a “real case” for the port to be kept in public ownership.

Australia China Business Council NT Branch president Daryl Guppy warned reviewing the Darwin Port deal now would be a huge step backwards for the Territory’s relationship with China.

“Post COVID, the NT is going to need investment capital to be able to recover from all this debt,” he said.

“We can’t afford to be cutting off ties with China and discouraging private investment.”

An aerial view of the Port of Darwin, which is under lease by Landbridge.

It comes amid fresh fears that Australian lobster exporters have become the latest victims of trade tensions with China.

Trade Minister Simon Birmingham said he has been seeking discussions with his Chinese counterpart in recent months, but his representations have been ignored.

Mr Albanese criticised the Morrison government for not doing enough to fix its relationship with China.

“When was the last time that the Prime Minister tried to have contact with President Xi (Jinping)?” he said.

“At the moment, those relationships have broken down, and the truth is that Australia has an interest in fixing it because it has an impact on jobs in our economy.”

The federal Labor leader also used his time in Darwin yesterday to touch on the issue of the 30,000 stranded Aussies overseas.

He called for RAAF VIP aircraft to be used to fly more people home before Christmas. This would be in addition to the 5000 Aussies due to be coming home on repatriation flights through the Howard Springs quarantine facility.

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“It is quite absurd that at a time where there has never been in history, more vacant seats on planes and vacant hotel rooms that we have 32,000 Australians who have been stranded overseas,” Mr Albanese said.

“The government has something called the Royal Australian Air Force, including a VIP fleet, that has multiple planes. We could be using that, particularly for regional flights in terms of Southeast Asia, and in our region to get people home.”