Darwin Port expansion, NT
Developing Darwin Port
The Darwin Port is a major export gateway for the Northern Territory and the primary method of transportation linking the Northern Territory to markets across the Asia‑Pacific region.
The Government is committing $50 million towards the development of Darwin Port to accommodate large ships suited to the transportation of bulk resources and commodities, subject to further work and consideration of the project by Infrastructure Australia. Going forward, the Government will seek to leverage this investment to secure private sector equity.
This investment will be used to undertake design and engineering works with the objective of greatly increasing the Port's capacity to handle goods for export.
Improving Australia's export competitiveness
Investment to expand Darwin Port will double the capacity of existing facilities. As part of this project:
- new berthing capacity will be created
- shiploading facilities will be built
- rail spurs and dump infrastructure will be improved.
Together, these developments are designed to increase export capacity and reduce export costs — thus improving the competitiveness of Australia's critical export gateways. This project will support future economic growth across the region and Australia more broadly.
Construction is expected to commence in 2010‑11 and additional berths could be operational from 2012‑13.
