Northern exposure

After 15 months of secrecy, NT Labor needs to come clean on what its deal with a foreign government actually entails. By Sam McMahon.

We are living in a time of heightened tensions and not just from Covid-19.

The geopolitical situation in our region has changed substantially in the last six years.

Our relationship with China is not as good as it could be and there are rumblings of war in the South China Sea.

We must be ever vigilant about safeguarding our national security and sovereignty from foreign interference acts such as cyber-attacks or theft of Intellectual Property.

Australia has already been the victim of a number of such attacks.

We must be alert to the latest form of warfare which includes cyber-attacks and disinformation campaigns.

A top Australian military commander has told soldiers Beijing is already engaged in “grey zone” warfare against Australia and the nation must plan for the likelihood of an actual conflict. 

Major General Adam Findlay delivered these lines reportedly during a confidential briefing and background conversations.

That is why I asked Foreign Minister Senator Marise Payne to examine the Northern Territory Labor government’s “education agreement” with the Shenzhen Board of Education in China.

I want to make sure the agreement signed with Shenzhen does not present any risk to the government.

This deal was done in secret and originally labelled a “sister city agreement”, then as an “education agreement” and then later as a “framework for cooperation” which the Gunner Government kept hidden for 15 months.

It is not at all clear what the agreement actually means, other than a commitment to “work together to promote closer relations between the Northern Territory and China”.

Michael Gunner needs to explain in plain and simple terms what the deal involves and what obligations the Territory has under the agreement.

The NT Government needs to be open and transparent about the deal and assure Australians that it is in the best interests of Australia and not a backdoor entry for the Chinese to get access to important information, technology and intellectual property.

I also asked Minister Payne to examine the Darwin Port deal to ensure it is fulfilling its contractual obligations.

As we now know the Defence Department has announced it will probe the 2015 deal with the Landbridge Group, following the Prime Minister’s announcement that he would take seriously any new advice from defence and security agencies.

The Defence Department is looking at the deal from the point of national security and strategic infrastructure.

The Territory Labor government also needs to look at the contractual obligations of the deal and determine if they have been fulfilled.

As part of the lease agreement Landbridge was required to spend $25m on infrastructure development in the first five years and $200m in the first 25 years.

What is unclear to all is whether those milestones for capital investment have been met. Only the Gunner Labor Government can answer that question. As an outsider it does not look like those monies have been spent and we are in our sixth year of the lease.

These are the types of questions we need to explore to ensure all measures associated with this lease are being met - not just the national security issues. 

Sam McMahon is a Senator for the Northern Territory.