Ann: Update re WestSide Offer, page-8

Interesting link

How a Chinese company with close ties the People's Liberation Army was allowed to buy Darwin Port needs to fully explained, Opposition treasury spokesman Chris Bowen said.

China's Landbridge Group, which has a 99-year lease over the commercial port, has close links to the Chinese armed forces and established a people's armed militia within the company, academic Geoff Wade said in a recent article.

"In short, Landbridge is a commercial front intimately tied to state-owned operations, the party and the PLA", Wade wrote.

The decision, confirmed in September, to lease the port to the group has triggered alarm in parts of the Defence establishment, The Australian Financial Review reported.


Defending the decision to lease the port, Industry Minister Josh Frydenberg said the government approved the deal based on advice from the Department of Defence.

"We can only be best advised by a Defence Force...that this had been looked at appropriately," he said. "The Defence Department ticked it off and it's gone through its other proper processes".

Trade Minister Andrew Robb said the deal went through a rigorous nine-month consultation process involving the Defence defpartment and Foreign Investment Review Board.

Mr Bowen said on Friday the government had questions to answer over the deal and the process followed in getting it approved. "Transparency is extremely important and it's incumbent on the Turnbull Liberal Government to either ensure full foreign investment review board processes apply or to urgently explain why not," he said.



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