On top of the A$429m committed for 2024, the United States’s total expenditure in the Northern Territory since President Barack Obama’s historic visit to Darwin in 2011 has passed the billon-dollar mark.

This includes the East Arm refuelling tank farm which will come in at about $200m when completed and the Marine Rotational Force which is based at Robertson Barracks during the Dry.

On top of its previous spending, the US has budgeted A$192.4m for new parking aprons at RAAF Base Darwin.

It’s understood the new aprons will be used by the US Navy for marine aircraft.

In addition, the USA Airforce has allocated about A$229m upgrading facilities at both RAAF Darwin and Tindal.