In Sunday night’s debate,Morrison said the federal government in 2015 did not have any authority to reject or approve the deal.
“The federal government had absolutely no authority over that sale whatsoever,” he said.
However,the federal government’s asset-recycling scheme offered millions of dollars to the NT government to sell the port. Under the scheme,states and territories were meant to receive 15 per cent of the price as an encouragement to privatise economically productive government assets.
The final schedule for payment,signed by federal Treasurer Josh Frydenberg and then-NT Treasurer Nicole Manison in 2019,shows the Commonwealth agreed to pay the territory $18.56 million for the sale.
The Foreign Investment Review Board in 2015 determined that it had no authority to examine the lease,but these laws were later changed to ensure a similar deal in the future could be reviewed.
Morrison was treasurer at the time the port was sold to Landbridge,which is owned by Chinese billionaire Ye Cheng.
Labor’s defence spokesman Brendan O’Connor said Morrison had “actively encouraged” the deal.