Australia announces to spend USD 580 mn to upgrade its 4 northern military bases

Amidst an increasingly bitter diplomatic and trade spat with China, Australia has announced to spend 580 million dollars to upgrade its four northern military bases.

 

Prime Minister Scott Morrison said that Australia must expand its military assets in the Northern Territory to be able respond to unspecified tensions in the Asia-Pacific region. He added that Australia’s objective is a free and open Indo-Pacific, to ensure a peaceful region, so that Australia is in a position to protect its interests.

 

PM Morrison said an airstrip in the Northern Territory will be lengthened to support larger



aircraft, firing ranges overhauled and new training facilities set up for defence personnel and US marines. The military upgrades will begin this year and be finished by 2026.

 

While PM Morrison avoided naming China, Australia's military focus on the Indo-Pacific area comes amid rising competition between the two for influence in the region in recent years. Relations between Australia and China deteriorated even further after Canberra called last year for an international inquiry into the origins of the coronavirus, prompting trade reprisals from Beijing.