The Defence Strategic Review has been touted as the most wide-ranging Australian defence review in decades, but inside its 110 unclassified pages there was no mention of the Darwin Port.
In handing down the defence review in the lead-up to Anzac Day, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese cited national security as "the most solemn responsibility of any Australian government".
The review itself called for defence bases across Australia's north — from Darwin to Townsville — to be urgently upgraded to better prepare the frontier against the threat of any future foreign strikes.
So what does this mean for the Darwin Port?
In 2015 the Darwin Port was controversially leased by the Northern Territory government for $506 million to Chinese-owned company Landbridge for 99 years.
While the review didn't explicitly mention the port, it did urge the federal government to shift Australia's focus towards its northern neighbours.
Dr John Coyne, a Northern Australia policy expert from the Australian Strategic Policy Institute, said while the port may not appear in the latest review's pages, it was part of the conversation.
"What we can say is [the port debate] certainly fits with the broader development, which is looking at target hardening, and looking at our force posture in northern Australia," Dr Coyne said.
"Certainly, it remains a live issue for both the federal government and the territory government."
The Darwin Port lease is currently under review
The leasing of Australia's most strategic northern asset to a company previously linked to the Chinese Communist Party has raised security concerns within the Australian Defence Force.
Scrutiny around the port's ownership has only intensified in the years since, amid a breakdown in the relationship between Australia and the Chinese government, with Beijing enforcing trade sanctions on Australian exports including wine and barley.
Indeed, the Darwin Port is currently the subject of its own separate review, with assessments into the leasing arrangements being undertaken by the federal government's security and legal agencies.
However, the government has not yet released the terms of reference of this review.
At a press conference this week, Deputy Prime Minister and Defence Minister Richard Marles was asked – considering the Defence Strategic Review's focus on northern Australia – what is the future for the Darwin Port?
"Well, the port of Darwin has its own process," Mr Marles said.
"Which is actually being managed through the department of PM&C [Prime Minister and Cabinet] so I'll leave the response to that process when it is ultimately concluded."
What happens next?
It remains unclear exactly when the outcome of this review will drop and what actions will be taken.
In the most extreme result, the Darwin Port lease can be pulled from Landbridge if national security is deemed to be at risk – however, this could put taxpayers on the hook to pay back millions.
Northern Territory MP Luke Gosling – a long-term critic of the port lease – said there would be "more to say about that [port review] in the future".
But he stopped short of pre-empting its final verdict.
Last year, Mr Albanese said the federal government's review would eventually be released publicly.
A previous review of the port by the Coalition government was never released publicly, though media reports suggested there were no adverse findings surrounding the lease.
In 2020, the Morrison government also tightened Foreign Investment Review Board powers to, according to then-home affairs minister Peter Dutton, "avoid the sort of errors the government has made when it comes to the Port of Darwin".
Mr Gosling said whatever the port review's outcome, the government was already moving to expand existing, separate defence force port facilities in Darwin Harbour.
"One thing is clear, is that we've had to upgrade and extend the capability down at [HMAS] Coonawarra, at Larrakeyah [Barracks], and in the future we will need more space because we're going to have more naval vessels here in Darwin," Mr Gosling said.
"We're going to need more port facilities into the future, because we're going to have a lot of these army water transport ships … and they're going to be based here."
