More than $1b additional investment in making us reliant on the USA: major runway extensions, fuel stockpiles and engineering will be designed to support “Code E” large aircraft, such as US Air Force B-52 strategic bombers and RAAF KC-30 air-to-air refuellers.
Mr Morrison told The Australian the $1.1bn spending comes on top of almost $500m that had already been planned for Tindal.
Under the US Force Posture Initiative signed in 2011 by the Gillard government and Obama administration, the US and Australia committed to joint funding for military infrastructure projects of about $2bn.
This included an increase in the annual rotation of US marines through Darwin to about 2000. The Tindal program will be funded under Australia’s contribution, after the US announced it would spend $305m in upgrading infrastructure in Darwin
“These are (the) sorts of things you can do when you manage money well and invest in priorities of keeping Australia safe and building the capability of our defence forces.” #FFS