Reports say that foreign affairs and intelligence agencies have been asked to look into the sale of the Darwin Port. 

In 2015, the NT Government leased the Darwin Port to Landbridge in a 99-year deal. Landbridge is owned by Chinese billionaire Ye Cheng, who paid $506 million for the lease. 

The foreign ownership of the key piece of infrastructure has created concerns about Australia’s sovereign risk. 

“People would be aware that it was leased out to a company connected very directly with the government of the People's Republic of China,” Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said in August last year, after saying he opposed the lease from the outset.

While diplomatic tensions between Australia and China have improved in recent months, the government has maintained an ongoing review of the port situation. 

In a briefing released to the ABC under Freedom of Information (FOI) laws, the Federal Government allegedly asked its national security agencies for assessments late last year.

“The department has commenced consultations with Commonwealth agencies and has requested information, reports [and] assessments relating to the Port of Darwin developed in 2022,” the briefing states, according to reports. 

Agencies asked to look into the matter include the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, Department of Home Affairs, Department of Defence, Office of National Intelligence, Australian Security Intelligence Organisation, and the Attorney-General's Department. 

The briefing also allegedly shows Landbridge wrote to the Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet in October last year “seeking advice on the nature and scope” of the review. The company has previously claimed it was not consulted in a previous national security assessment conducted by Defence at the request of the former Coalition government.

More details are accessible here.