Port talk ‘poor politics’

DEPUTY Prime Minister Barnaby Joyce has dismissed criticism of funding for a second Darwin Port as “poor politics”, despite the CLP leasing the infrastructure to a Chinabacked company in 2015.

In an interview with the Sunday Territorian, Mr Joyce also said fracking in the Beetaloo Basin would help ward off the growing threat of China by growing the economy.

The CLP is pushing to bring the NT seat of Lingiari into the Coalition tent.

Insiders in both major political parties admit the battle for the safe Labor seat is heating up with the retirement of long-time incumbent Warren Snowdon.

The Coalition has promised $2.6bn to develop parts of the Territory, including new logistics, $1.5bn for a second port and to help carbon capture and storage and clean hydrogen.

In the interview on Saturday, Mr Joyce went on the offensive when asked whether the Coalition was only funding new facilities at Middle Arm to get around the Chinese control of the existing Darwin Port.

“(Labor) have got to stop talking history lessons which aren’t even correct,” he said.

Mr Joyce said criticism of the plans were “such poor politics”, before saying plans to develop Middle Arm would help make Australia “as strong as possible as quickly as possible”.

Amid furore over the Solomon Islands’ defence deal with China, the Nationals leader said the security Territorians had become used to over previous decades was ending.

But Mr Joyce also said the NT needed to “exploit” the region’s resources, including from fracking in the Beetaloo, citing it as a key to expanding Northern Australia’s economy and standing up to China.

“If you’re not strong, people can put their foot on your throat and just saying the word strength is very false,” he said.

“You’ve got to make the hard decisions about how you do it and that’s why you develop the Beetaloo.”

“You’re going to be saying (to future generations), ‘did I do my job to make sure that you don’t have to deal with a threat that is now very present?’ ” However, Mr Joyce said the NT was also well placed to deepen ties with other Asian nations.

“I’m actually making it happen, because off our coast is one of the fastest growing economies in the world in Indonesia, where hundreds of millions of people live,” he said.

“As a market, (Darwin) is vastly closer to Jakarta than it is to Canberra.”

When asked why Territorians should pick the Coalition for a fourth term, Mr Joyce said it was because he personally made sure the NT kept its two seats in federal parliament.

“We made sure Lingiari was in a wonderful position,” he said.