Besides the enraged reaction of the French, there’s an actual clinker in the AUKUS agreement and the expectation that, in its wake, the U.S. will greatly increase its military presence in northern Australia. The Port of Darwin facility, which would be key to any such military expansion, is controlled by a Chinese company called Landbridge, which has a 99-year lease to run it. The $506 million deal was consummated by the Northern Territory government and cleared by the Australian Defense Department in 2015. The deal apparently has always been controversial but is now seen as a potential obstacle to the U.S. bringing in shiploads of military gear.
The NT government’s defense and national security advocate, Alan Dupont, told the ABC that it was clear the Darwin Port was a contentious issue. “There’s no doubt that from an alliance perspective, it is not ideal to have a Chinese-owned company basically controlling a significant part of the harbor’s infrastructure,” Dupont, who is otherwise an advocate of increasing the U.S. military presence in Northern Australia, said. “My view is that that is a manageable problem, but others may not see it that way. And I certainly think the Americans, in particular, are quite uneasy about that.” Landbridge, the ABC notes, has previously disputed suggestions that its lease has any national security implications.
