In a wide ranging interview to be broadcast on the ABC tonight, the Prime Minister will announce that the Northern Territory is to be sold to China. It is understood that his personal popularity and the corresponding low figures by the Leader of the Opposition have persuaded him that this is a good time to make the announcement.
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The deal was struck between some Chinese business people and the Northern Territory government, a loose grouping of Darwin residents who fight with each other all the time and change sides so often that it is not easy to work out which of the main political parties any of them might belong to.
The Chinese signed a document that says they will not allow any missiles or military hardware to be placed anywhere on their Australian properties. The NT government was satisfied that since the buyers were taking lessons on the way that a boomerang can be used as a weapon, it was unlikely that they would ever provide any meaningful threat to the security of the region. When an interviewer asked whether they thought boomerangs would be a good protection against crocodiles, the Chinese did not seem to understand the point of the question.
The Greens are in a quandary about the move. They have already supported the idea of selling parts of Australia to the highest bidder, but are surprised that the government would go as far as to allow the sale of an entire territory. They are encouraged by the promise of the Chinese that they will not shoot crocodiles and will protect native species like the green-bellied brown snake, the yellow-tinted warbler thrush and the swamp robber frog.
Initially, the federal government had to handle strong objections from the Americans who took a poor view of the whole idea. But the Prime Minister pointed out to them that if the Chinese owned such a large part of Australia, they might stop creating islands in the middle of the ocean. He also assured Mr Obama that a boomerang isn't really much in the way of aggressive hardware and moreover that it would be the responsibility of the ADF to defend the Chinese if there was any trouble from outsiders.
As well as defence, the NT will still be part of Australia for purposes of taxation. Because overseas companies and foreign nationals pay so little tax in this country, the Chinese are not worried on this point. They say that they do not understand the way that tax is calculated in Australia and they have employed two former federal parliamentarians and a large number of Canberra media advisers to ensure that this will not change.
The ALP are highly critical of what they see as a threat to Australian sovereignty, but they are handicapped by the common opinion within the media that Mr Turnbull is an upright politician who would not do anything as nasty as to give away part of the country to outsiders. The former minister for defence, Kevin Andrews, has spoken against the move as has Tony Abbott; however, because no one any longer listens to anything either of them says, they are ignored.
The other factor which persuaded the Coalition to allow this deal to go ahead was the promise by the Chinese that they will accept all the refugees in Nauru, Manus Island and Christmas Island and will even open up the territory to those fleeing from wars and persecution in the Middle East. They have, however, insisted that they should not be subject to regulations such as minimum wages and maximum hours of work.
The amount of money to be paid for the Northern Territory has not been revealed. The federal government says that this is a state/territory matter and involves things that are confidential-in-confidence. However, the size of the sums involved may be gauged by the fact that Mr Morrison is no longer talking about raising the GST.
The NT government is said to have earmarked the funds as a down payment for the purchase of the Kimberley region from WA Inc, a speculative investment that has been described as a win-win situation by both parties involved. However, although the NT politicians believe that the money should stay under their control, the Federal Treasurer has quoted part of the federation document of 1901 that does not allow this.
As usual in these matters, the views of the Aboriginal peoples have not been canvassed. One opinion writer has suggested that they could hardly be any worse off under the Chinese than they are at the moment. If the question is raised by journalists, Mr Turnbull is said to have a long answer prepared that says nothing. Whether he will mention the boomerang is not known.
Anyway, that's what I think.
Frank O'Shea is a Melbourne writer.
