Warwick Stacey (NSW, Pauline Hanson's One Nation Party) Share this | Hansard source

I move:

That the Senate take note of the answer given by the Minister for Foreign Affairs (Minister Wong) to a question without notice I asked today relating to the Chinese controlled port of Darwin.

Our prime minister failed to raise the issue during his recent visit to China. The Prime Minister promised to return the port to Australian control. Is the Prime Minister serious about delivering on this promise? And, if so, when? The port of Darwin was leased to the Chinese company Landbridge Group for 99 years, in 2015, under a deal worth $506 million. Landbridge received planning approval to invest a further $200 million into the port for which it may seek compensation under a compulsory acquisition.

The port of Darwin sits in close proximity to critical defence infrastructure and is itself a vital asset in the defence of our nation. This raises questions of national security, Australian sovereignty and damage to our reputation as a reliable defence partner. If we can't get this simple thing right, if our allies can't trust us to get this simple thing right, how can our allies trust us to be serious about our own defence or help them in a conflict?

Landbridge has been reported as saying it has no interest in selling its lease. If this matter is not resolved, the next generation of Australians will be left to do it—and pay for it. The One Nation position has always been that Australian land should be owned by Australians and that critical Australian infrastructure should never be allowed to fall into foreign ownership. One Nation will always put the interests of Australians and our sovereignty first.

Question agreed to.