(Bloomberg) -- Australia’s government will hold talks with its Northern Territory counterpart on Thursday over concerns around the financial status of Chinese company Landbridge, which holds a 99-year lease over the strategically-important port of Darwin.
Northern Territory Treasurer Bill Yan said Wednesday that he had written to Landbridge to seek “further information about their financial situation” and would be flying to the national capital, Canberra, to meet with Infrastructure Minister Catherine King.
“Our immediate focus is to ensure the Port remains operational while its longer term future is confirmed,” Yan said in a statement. “The Northern Territory is reviewing our rights, and our future action will be made in the best interests of Territorians.”
A spokesperson for Minister King said they were aware of the reports around Landbridge.
“In the short term, there is clearly work for the Northern Territory Government to do on its lease arrangements,” the spokesperson said in a statement.
Australia’s former center-right government controversially agreed to a 99-year lease on the Port of Darwin in 2015, a decision that raised eyebrows in the US at the time.
When relations between Australia and China deteriorated during the Covid-19 pandemic, questions were raised over whether the lease was in the long-term national interest. The Department of Defence was asked to review the agreement in 2021; however two years later a decision was made that there were no national security concerns as a result of the deal.
Landbridge Australia said in a statement on Wednesday that the Port of Darwin had been very successful during the year through June 2024, while adding that the port’s Chinese parent company was in the process of refinancing overdue corporate bonds worth 500 million yuan ($69 million).
Terry O’Connor, Landbridge Australia’s non-executive director, said in the statement that the firm expected the process to be settled by the second quarter of 2025, and the Port of Darwin would not being considered for an asset sale.
“Landbridge in China has a portfolio of large infrastructure assets, and it is looking to moderate its debt, which will likely see the sale of some assets across the Group,” he said.
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