Русская инициатива Кто стоит за информационной атакой на Pfizer svoboda.org - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from svoboda.org Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
âAll foreign investorsâ are watching Darwin Port
Save
Share
The potential stripping of a Chinese companyâs 99-year lease of Darwin Port has raised alarm among foreign investors from multiple countries, business figures have warned.
Landbridge vice-president Mike Hughes wrote in Wednesdayâs
The Australian Financial Reviewhe had never seen a company as badly treated and the Defence Departmentâs review into whether the firm should keep its lease sent a âworrying signâ to foreign investors.
The Port of Darwinâs 99-year lease with Chinese company Landbridge has attracted criticism since 2015.Â
Glenn Campbell
Australia China Business Council president David Olsson said Landbridge had become a âlightning rodâ for a lot of commentary about Chinese investment.
Advertisement
Australia’s Defence Department has been warned its spending on contractors is a “looming iceberg” that risks eating into its acquisition budget and demoralising its own workforce.
The number of Defence contractors has grown from 4669 two years ago to 6810 as the federal government has poured billions of dollars into acquisitions amid escalating tensions in the Indo-Pacific. Defence’s total “external workforce”, which also includes outsourced service providers and consultants, increased from 23,324 to 32,487 over the same period.
Defence’s acquisition and sustainment budgets are planned to double over the decade and local acquisition spending alone could grow from $2.6 billion to about $10 billion, the reports says.