Coronavirus: Northern Territory opens door to US marines despite virus risk

The annual rotation of US Marine Corps soldiers through Darwin will go ahead despite the coronavirus pandemic.

Defence Minister Linda Reynolds. Picture: AAP

The annual rotation of US Marine Corps soldiers through Darwin — a key feature of Australia’s most important strategic alliance — will go ahead despite the coronavirus pandemic.

The six-month dry season deployment was delayed in March amid speculation it could be cancelled altogether, but it will now take place in a “modified” form later this year.

Defence Minister Linda Reynolds announced the decision to proceed cautiously after speaking to her counterpart, US Defence Secretary Mark Esper, on Wednesday. “The decision was based on Australia’s record to date in managing the impacts from COVID-19, as well as strict adherence by deployed US marines to the mandatory 14-day quarantine and other requirements,” she said.

“Hosting this key alliance ­activity provides interoperability benefits and signals our firm joint commitment to regional security.”

A statement issued by the US Marine Corps Forces Pacific in Hawaii said Australian authorities had granted US soldiers an exemption from travel restrictions so they could participate in the 2020 deployment.

“The US Marine Corps is committed to ensuring the health and safety of its forces and the Australian people, including local indigenous communities,” it said.

“The changes to this year’s deployment do not change the plans for those in subsequent years.”

The 2020 rotation will bring up to 2500 personnel from the US, a hotbed of COVID-19 infections, to the Northern Territory, which has just three active coronavirus cases and no evidence of community transmission.

Chief Minister Michael Gunner said the deployment would provide a “massive boost” to the Territory’s economic recovery and the marines would face tougher safety conditions than those placed on other arrivals, understood to include pre-screening.

“We will get the benefit of having the marines here without any risk to Territorians,” he said.

“Having marines here means creating more jobs here. That is ­exactly what we need right now.”

The deal for up to 2500 US marines to spend six months in Australia each year was negotiated in 2011 by then US president Barack Obama and then prime minister Julia Gillard.

Senator Reynolds also revealed that Australian and US researchers were studying the survival of the virus that causes COVID-19 and how it is impacted by environmental factors such as temperature and humidity.

She said the work was being done through a body called the Five Nation Research and Development Council, also understood to involve the UK, Canada and New Zealand.

Questions remain about how soldiers will be able to train while virtually all of the Territory outside urban areas is locked down.