Massive blow to China as Albanese and Dutton BOTH move to strip Chinese ownership of key Australian asset

Chinese conglomerate Landbridge Group volition beryllium forced to merchantability its arguable lease implicit the strategically important Port of Darwin nary substance which large enactment wins government. 

On Friday afternoon, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese placed an unexpected telephone to ABC Radio Darwin to unveil his plans to buy backmost the larboard if nary backstage purchaser could beryllium found.

'We've been moving connected this for immoderate time,' helium said, stressing the value of getting the Port of Darwin 'back into Australian hands'. 

He confirmed the authorities had been talking with imaginable buyers and remained hopeful an Australian superannuation money whitethorn follow the lease. 

The call-in was an evident bid to pre-empt Opposition Leader Peter Dutton's ain plans to wrest backmost power of the Port. 

Mr Dutton had planned to marque the announcement connected Saturday, including a program to prehend the larboard if nary purchaser could beryllium recovered wrong six months. 

'If a backstage lease cannot beryllium facilitated wrong six months of the process commencing, arsenic a past resort, we volition enactment to get the lease involvement successful the larboard utilizing the Commonwealth's compulsory acquisition powers,' the Coalition wrote successful a connection quoted by the Sydney Morning Herald. 

It said it 'would not licence the lease of the larboard to immoderate entity that is straight oregon indirectly controlled by a overseas government, including immoderate state-owned endeavor oregon sovereign wealthiness fund.'

The Chinese-owned firm's palmy $506million bid for the lease successful 2015 raised objections from argumentation and information experts alike fixed the port's strategical and commercialized significance.  

Landbridge is owned by Chinese billionaire Ye Cheng, but the Prime Minister antecedently said the backstage steadfast is 'connected precise directly' with Xi Jinping's Chinese government.

The Australian Strategic Policy Institute has documented the links betwixt the company's enactment and Chinese Communist Party. 

At the time, the national authorities did not request to springiness its support for the woody but the lease was welcomed by past Minister for Trade Andrew Robb. 

Landbridge non-executive manager Terry O'Connor told Daily Mail Australia it had not been progressive successful 'any discussions with the Federal Government concerning our lease agreement'. 

'As antecedently stated, and confirmed by our owner, the Port is not for sale.

'Landbridge considers the Port a semipermanent concern that has reported grounds operational show this year. We expect this maturation to proceed successful the future.'

Famously, erstwhile Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull was chided by past US President Barack Obama implicit the leasing statement astatine a 2015 meeting. 

A 2023 reappraisal of the lease by the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet recovered it was 'not indispensable to alteration oregon cancel the lease'. 

It identified a 'robust regulatory system' was already successful spot to 'manage risks to captious infrastructure, including the Port of Darwin'. 

The findings mostly aligned with an earlier reappraisal by the Department of Defence. 

Nonetheless, information concerns person persisted arsenic has been made wide by the attraction fixed to it successful the tally up to the upcoming national elections. 

On Wednesday, Mr Albanese told reporters helium ne'er would person 'flogged [the port] disconnected successful the archetypal place'. 

'We opposed the merchantability of the Port of Darwin. We opposed it astatine the time, we thought that was unwise'. 

Neither is it the archetypal clip Mr Albanese has flirted with the thought of taking enactment against the lease successful a national predetermination campaign. 

In 2022, helium criticised the determination and suggested his authorities whitethorn beryllium consenting to cancel the lease nether overseas veto laws if necessary.