Election 2025: Give our businesses a fair go, says China

Beijing has warned Australia not to discriminate against the country’s businesses amid a push by both sides of politics to strip Chinese-owned company Landbridge of its lease over the Port of Darwin.

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Lin Jian. Picture: Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the People’s Republic of China

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Beijing has warned Australia not to discriminate against the country’s businesses amid a push by both sides of politics to strip ­Chinese-owned company Landbridge of its lease over the Port of Darwin.

The move came as Labor rejected a Coalition request for a high-level briefing on the national security risks surrounding the lease following the government’s policy shift declaring the facility must be brought under Australian ownership.

Late on Monday, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Lin Jian called for Australian authorities to ensure a level playing field for Chinese businesses. “We urge the Australian side to provide a fair, non-discriminatory and predictable business environment for Chinese companies’ investment and operation in Australia, and not to generalise the concept of national security or politicise normal business co-operation,” Mr Lin said.

The opposition wrote to Defence Minister Richard Marles and Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke on Monday requesting they green-light briefings under election caretaker conventions to ensure the Coalition had the most up-to-date national security advice on the port.

It followed Anthony Albanese’s refusal to account for his change of heart since his October 2023 declaration that security risks surrounding Landbridge’s lease could be managed through the regulatory system and there was no need for a forced sale.

East Arm Wharf, Darwin, which is operated by Chinese company Landbridge.

In their letter, opposition home affairs spokesman James Paterson and opposition defence spokesman Andrew Hastie asked their government counterparts for the national security advice underpinning Mr Albanese’s declaration that “Australia needs to own the Port of Darwin”.

“As you would be aware, the caretaker conventions specify that the government should avoid making major policy decisions that are likely to commit, or enter, an incoming government into major contracts or undertakings,” the letter said.

“Given the significant impli­cations for Australia’s national interest, and the intense public interest in the Port of Darwin issue, we are seeking a comprehensive briefing to ensure the opposition has access to the same national security advice that the government does.”

They asked the briefing be conducted by representatives from key national security agencies, as well as the Prime Minister’s Department, Defence, Home Affairs, Treasury and Fin­ance. A government spokeswoman said the request was denied.

“The Coalition have already announced their policy position on the Port of Darwin,” she said. “They could have sought a briefing prior to making their announcement, but they didn’t. This is an election commitment and therefore does not fall within caretaker conventions.”

The Coalition has promised to bring the port under Australian ownership within six months if it wins the election – a pledge the Prime Minister sought to gazump on Friday by saying Labor would also look to end Landbridge’s lease over the facility.

Opposition home affairs spokesman James Paterson. Picture: NewsWire / Martin Ollman

On Monday he continued to say there had been no change to the government’s position on the port, despite his comments in Oct­ober 2023 – a fortnight before he travelled to China – that the port’s future had been resolved and there would be no forced sale.

Mr Albanese also repeated that the government had discussed Labor’s plan to strip Landbridge of the lease with the Northern Territory government, contradicting NT Treasurer Bill Yam, who said federal government had ruled out the prospect.

The US has long been concerned over the lease arrangement, but Mr Marles refused to provide details of America’s lobbying on the port’s ownership: “I’m not going to go into the conversations we’ve had with the US government in relation to this.”

Meanwhile, he refused to say when the Top End’s critical strategic infrastructure, including the port, Robertson Barracks and RAAF bases, would be protected from attack by land-based air and missile defence systems. The government cut funding for air defence systems in Defence’s latest investment program.

Mr Marles said the government was investing in missile defence, citing delivery of two new Himars batteries for the army, but those systems attack ground targets rather than intercept incoming missiles.