Chinese conglomerate Landbridge Group will be forced to sell its controversial lease over the strategically significant Port of Darwin no matter which major party wins government. 

On Friday afternoon, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese placed an unexpected call to ABC Radio Darwin to unveil his plans to buy back the port if no private buyer could be found.

‘We’ve been working on this for some time,’ he said, stressing the importance of getting the Port of Darwin ‘back into Australian hands’. 

He confirmed the government had been talking with potential buyers and remained hopeful an Australian superannuation fund may adopt the lease. 

The call-in was an apparent bid to pre-empt Opposition Leader Peter Dutton’s own plans to wrest back control of the Port. 

Mr Dutton had planned to make the announcement on Saturday, including a plan to seize the port if no buyer could be found within six months. 

‘If a private lease cannot be facilitated within six months of the process commencing, as a last resort, we will act to acquire the lease interest in the port using the Commonwealth’s compulsory acquisition powers,’ the Coalition wrote in a statement quoted by the Sydney Morning Herald. 

It said it ‘would not permit the lease of the port to any entity that is directly or indirectly controlled by a foreign government, including any state-owned enterprise or sovereign wealth fund.’

Landbridge Group will be forced to sell its 99-year lease over the Port of Darwin under a Coalition or Labor government

Landbridge Group will be forced to sell its 99-year lease over the Port of Darwin under a Coalition or Labor government

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said his government had been developing plans to force the sale of the site 'for some time'

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said his government had been developing plans to force the sale of the site ‘for some time’

The 2015 lease of the port, which is considered to be of significant defence and commercial signficance, came under fire from security experts

The 2015 lease of the port, which is considered to be of significant defence and commercial signficance, came under fire from security experts 

The Chinese-owned firm’s successful $506million bid for the lease in 2015 raised objections from policy and security experts alike given the port’s strategic and commercial significance.  

Landbridge is owned by Chinese billionaire Ye Cheng, but the Prime Minister previously said the private firm is ‘connected very directly’ with Xi Jinping’s Chinese government.

The Australian Strategic Policy Institute has documented the links between the company’s leadership and Chinese Communist Party. 

At the time, the federal government did not need to give its approval for the deal but the lease was welcomed by then Minister for Trade Andrew Robb. 

Landbridge non-executive director Terry O’Connor told Daily Mail Australia it had not been involved in ‘any discussions with the Federal Government concerning our lease agreement’. 

‘As previously stated, and confirmed by our owner, the Port is not for sale.

‘Landbridge considers the Port a long-term investment that has reported record operational performance this year. We expect this growth to continue in the future.’

Famously, former Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull was chided by then US President Barack Obama over the leasing arrangement at a 2015 meeting. 

Opposition Leader Peter Dutton said his government would seize the site if no buyer could be found within six months

Opposition Leader Peter Dutton said his government would seize the site if no buyer could be found within six months

Both Albanese and Dutton would consider taking public control of the site if a private buyer could not be found

Both Albanese and Dutton would consider taking public control of the site if a private buyer could not be found

Landbridge is owned by Chinese billionaire Ye Cheng, but the PM previously said the private firm is "connected very directly" with Xi Jinping's (pictured) Chinese government

Landbridge is owned by Chinese billionaire Ye Cheng, but the PM previously said the private firm is ‘connected very directly’ with Xi Jinping’s (pictured) Chinese government 

A 2023 review of the lease by the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet found it was ‘not necessary to vary or cancel the lease’. 

It identified a ‘robust regulatory system’ was already in place to ‘manage risks to critical infrastructure, including the Port of Darwin’. 

The findings largely aligned with an earlier review by the Department of Defence. 

Nonetheless, security concerns have persisted as has been made clear by the attention given to it in the run up to the upcoming federal elections. 

On Wednesday, Mr Albanese told reporters he never would have ‘flogged [the port] off in the first place’. 

‘We opposed the sale of the Port of Darwin. We opposed it at the time, we thought that was unwise’. 

Neither is it the first time Mr Albanese has flirted with the idea of taking action against the lease in a federal election campaign. 

In 2022, he criticised the decision and suggested his government may be willing to cancel the lease under foreign veto laws if necessary. 

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Read more at DailyMail.co.uk