Review China port lease: Anthony Albanese

Anthony Albanese has suggested the Morrison government should consider renationalising the Port of Darwin amid concerns about foreign interference in Australia.

Opposition Leader Anthony Albanese during his address to the national Press Club in Canberra. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Gary Ramage

Anthony Albanese has suggested the Morrison government should consider renationalising the Port of Darwin amid concerns about foreign interference in Australia.

The Opposition Leader said the 99-year lease of the port to Chinese company Landbridge Group should be reviewed as part of the federal government’s crackdown on agreements with foreign governments.

When asked whether the sale of the port in 2015 should be overturned by the federal government, Mr Albanese said that should be part of the debate. “We’ll have that debate, no doubt, as part of this,” he told the ABC on Sunday. “We’re going to look at this, and that’s a reasonable thing to do, then let’s have a look it.

“And I think, certainly in terms of the national interest, the Port of Darwin is critical.”

The former Northern Territory Coalition government leased the nation’s closest port to Asia in 2015 in a $500m deal.

Labor has accused Scott Morrison of not doing enough to scupper the deal when he was the then treasurer. Last year, Labor MP Nick Champion called for the Port of Darwin to be nationalised.