Sale sparks peace threat to PNG

SYDNEY: A potential sale to Chinese interests, of the privately owned Conflict Islands – which lie in the Coral Sea off Australia’s east coast – would put the country’s national security at risk, according to defence experts.
Retired Australian businessman Ian Gowrie-Smith is placing his group of 21 atolls in Milne Bay on the open market.
The Conflict Islands are closer to the Australian mainland than Sydney is to Melbourne and have the potential to provide navy and airforce footholds just 940km from Cairns.
Gowrie-Smith is concerned about the controversial security pact between the Solomon Islands and China and contacted foreign affairs minister Penny Wong’s office in June to advise her of his intention to sell the Islands.
“I haven’t heard tickety boo – nothing.
“I know that it went through all the official levels with PNG’s Australian High Commissioner, so I know that it’s gone through to her,” Gowrie-Smith told A Current Affair.
In the absence of a response from Wong’s office, the 74-year-old former entrepreneur turned conservationist confirmed he would reluctantly sell to Chinese buyers.
The island group is near one of Australia’s main shipping routes, the Jomard Passage, and three submarine internet cables connecting the Australian mainland to the rest of the world.
Australian Strategic Policy Institute (ASPI) director Michael Shoebridge said the acquisition of the island chain by China could provide an opportunity for the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) to project power on Australia’s doorstep.
“The PLA supporting itself from facilities in our region just empowers them to do more of the belligerent aggressive things that we see them do in the South China Sea, around Taiwan and against Japan,” he said.
The ASPI defence, strategy and national security programme director recommended the Australian government should become involved in the sale of the Conflict Islands sooner rather than later. – NINE