Defence is keeping its national security review of a Chinese-owned company's lease of Darwin Port secret. 

Chinese-owned company Landbridge signed a $500 million, 99-year lease for the strategically important asset in 2015.

In May 2021, then defence minister Peter Dutton confirmed the National Security Committee of Cabinet had called for new security advice and an assessment of the implications of the controversial lease. 

The Defence Department has refused a Freedom of Information (FOI) request for its findings after the Coalition last year asked it to assess national security implications of the lease. 

A series of “talking points” given to the former Coalition government were released. They shed some light on the range of questions it expected to face, and how they should be answered.

Defence said 10 documents it refused to release fell within the scope of the request, including two “risk assessments” conducted in 2021. The material was deemed exempt because it was created for cabinet.

The talking points covered potential questions from journalists, including:

  • Will the government act on Defence advice that the Landbridge lease is not a security threat and conclude the review?

  • Is the lease of the Port of Darwin a national security threat?

  • Who is leading the review? Which agencies are involved in the Port of Darwin review?

  • Will government publicly announce the review's outcomes? If so, when will this occur?

  • Has government engaged with any external stakeholders on the review (international partners, NT government, Landbridge)?

  • Will the AUKUS security partnership have any impact on Landbridge's lease of the Port of Darwin?

It said no comments were needed, due to the national security implications of the review process, other than to say:

  • Defence and other agencies had been engaged to provide advice on the Darwin Port

  • The review process was ongoing and no decision had yet been made about the lease

  • The review included the departments of Prime Minister and Cabinet, Foreign Affairs and Trade, Home Affairs and the national intelligence community

  • The AUKUS partnership and Landbridge's lease of the Darwin Port were unrelated.

The FOI documents also show Mr Dutton requested updated talking points in March this year. 

He was given an additional response to say: “Information relating to the review into the Port of Darwin is classified, and a matter that is still in process”.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has confirmed that his government has commissioned a new review of the Darwin Port lease. It is not known whether this review will be made public.