(April 4): Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has indicated he would look to buy back the Port of Darwin from Chinese company Landbridge under a reelected Labor government, the most significant move yet to bring the strategic asset once more under Australian ownership.

Albanese said in an interview with the Australian Broadcasting Corp radio on Friday the port needed to be “in Australian hands”, including the possibility that a private buyer would be sought to take control.

“We will enter into negotiations to do that,” Albanese said. “That is what we’ve been doing informally through potential buyers up to this point already, and if it reaches a point where the Commonwealth needs to directly intervene, then we’d be prepared to do that.”

The Northern Territory government originally approved the 99-year lease to the Chinese company in 2015, a decision criticised by then US president Barack Obama. The Port of Darwin is a strategic asset on Australia’s northern coastline, and is home to a base for thousands of US marines.

Federal and territory authorities have been discussing how to deal with uncertainty around the port, since reports first emerged in November of potential financial difficulties at Landbridge. When news of a possible acquisition was announced in March, Landbridge Australia non-executive director Terry O’Connor said in a statement the Port of Darwin isn’t for sale.

Albanese said he had been in discussions with private pension funds to potentially acquire the facility, with the intention of minimising the impact on taxpayers of the sale. The prime minister said he would announce more on the potential sale during the course of the campaign, ahead of an election on May 3.

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