The Department of Defence has been busy denying that it may develop a naval port at Glyde Point, 40km northeast of Darwin. It doesn’t deny that the territory government may be encouraged to build one itself. Wink, wink.

If Australia is keen to ensure that the US remains engaged in the region (and dedicated to Australia’s defence), nothing says commitment like infrastructure.

The most attractive feature of building a naval port at Glyde Point may be its future use by the RAN itself. China has announced plans to build a “fishery industrial park” at Daru on the south coast of Papua New Guinea. With no fish in the water but Australia within sight, the planned facility presumably is aimed at threatening the Torres Strait.

"no American ally is potentially more important than"

When Australia negotiated the US Marine Corps’ ‘rotational presence’ operating out of Darwin, the plan agreed with Barack Obama in 2010 was ultimately to locate some major US warships at the Australian navy base HMAS Stirling, near Perth.

The NT government has suitable locations for large- scale development of the type needed. And if the federal government was willing also to bear some of the cost of hosting these ships, the proposal becomes more compelling.

first clp leader to ever lose an election says WAT?

A DARWIN Aussie rules legend is prepared to wage war against USA and Australian defence forces if they push ahead with a proposed deep sea port at Glyde Point.

Donald Dookie Bonson Darwin Buffaloes football legend and partner Vicki are gearing up...

Australia and the US should ­establish a Darwin-based ­amphibious force to co-ordinate efforts in resisting Chinese influence in the region, a retired US Marine Corps colonel says.

The plan would involve about 2000 US troops and up to four US Navy ships stationed close to Darwin Port, which was controversially leased for 99 years in 2015 by a private firm with alleged links to the Chinese government.

wild assertions, zero evidence. Australia faces no such threat; China is not our enemy.

Ross Babbage, an Australian strategic policy specialist, has welcomed revelations of a $715 million expansion of naval infrastructure in the Northern Territory, providing an opportunity for further basing of major US Navy units as both nations seek to reorientate their forces to better respond to rising great power competition in the Indo-Pacific.

Since former US president Barrack Obama announced a reinvigorated US presence in the Indo-Pacific as part of the Pacific Pivot in 2013, Darwin has emerged as one of the key focal points for US strategic planners and the Australian Defence Force, as the nation responds to an increasingly assertive China and rapidly evolving economic, political and strategic environment. 

While the broader economic potential of Darwin is heavily under-utilised, the strategic potential of the city is equally under-utilised, particularly given the rise of Indo-Pacific Asia and China – something increasingly recognised by the USA as it seeks to re-position itself in the region.