‘Stinks of hypocrisy’: Maritime union calls out CLP Port of Darwin political posturing

The maritime union has called out Lia Finocchiaro’s attack of Labor over the Port of Darwin, reminding the Chief she was part of the government who sold the strategic asset.

The wharfies union has called out the Chief Minister for her commentary around the Port of Darwin lease, saying it “stinks of hypocrisy” as she was part of the government that sold it off.

Maritime Union of Australia assistant national secretary Thomas Mayo was head of the NT branch when the port was sold in 2015, leading determined protests against the port’s privatisation and 99 year lease to Chinese owned Landbridge.

Thomas Mayo. Picture: Blair Jackson

“It was certainly not supported by the workers and people that live in Darwin, we did everything we could to try stop it – and yet Lia Finocchiaro’s party went ahead with it,” Mr Mayo said.

“It’s an absolute hypocrisy and rewriting of history to put the blame on anyone other than her own party, both at the Territory and federal level.

“At the end of the day, she was part of a government that sold off the most important strategic port in the north of Australia to (a company with links to) the Chinese government.”

Mr Mayo said he would like to see the port return to being a public asset, in order to better secure workers’ rights and safeguard national security.

Mrs Finocchiaro has this week accused Labor MP Luke Gosling of creating “mass uncertainty” through his calls for a public-private partnership to buy back the port.

She called on the Albanese government to either stump up the money, or shut down speculation.

Mrs Finocchiaro was not a Cabinet minister when then-Chief Minister Adam Giles made the $508m deal with Landbridge, but was a member on a committee tasked with examining the Port of Darwin lease model.

Fronting media on Tuesday, she said “I can’t put myself in the shoes of the decision makers 10 years ago”.

“The entire landscape of the Northern Territory has changed in that time … the federal government has recognised that the Territory does play a very important strategic role in our defence, the security of our nation, but also as a critical partner for our allies.

“What I’m saying is it’s very important going forward, particularly off the back of these question marks around (Landbridge’s) solvency, that we have a Territory-first approach to make sure that our port is a fully functional port, delivering for economic growth.”

Originally published as ‘Stinks of hypocrisy’: Maritime union calls out CLP Port of Darwin political posturing