The federal government announced today that critical defence stations in northern Australia will be upgraded for $3.8 billion over the next four years.
Speaking from Darwin, Defence Minister Richard Marles announced that funds would be provided for essential upgrades to land, air, and marine installations.
The action came after the Defence Strategic Review, which was published on Monday and recommended that the armed forces alter their approaches to missiles and long-range weapons, was made public.
To put the recommendations of the inquiry into action, the Albanese will invest $19 billion altogether.
Our northern sites are a tremendous asset and essential to Australia’s ability to project, as the Defence Strategic Review correctly notes, Marles said.
Our urgent investment in these bases will guarantee that our defence force can successfully operate from them.
He provided specifics on how the $3.8 billion will be spent.
$2 billion will be used to upgrade air bases in the Northern Territory, Queensland, and Cocos Islands.
The capacities of the “joint estate” and the land will be upgraded for one billion dollars.
Additionally, HMAS Coonawarra and HMAS Cairns, two naval installations, will each receive $600 million.
The study emphasised the crucial strategic role that Northern Territory bases play in projecting the ADF’s weaponry as well as its significance.
Since 2011, thousands of US Marines have regularly rotated through the Top End, holding training with Australian forces.
Marles added today that a review of a Chinese company’s lease over the Port of Darwin was almost finished.
“That review’s conclusion is not too far away… I won’t be making any predictions about how that review will turn out. Let’s wait and see what it suggests, but it’s not too far off.
The then Country Liberal NT government granted Landbridge Group the 99-year port lease in 2015.
