CANNING MP Andrew Hastie has weighed into the debate about the sale of Fremantle port, raising concerns the key piece of infrastructure could fall into the hands of state-owned companies that do not share Australian values.
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Responding to concerns raised by his constituents and previously by the United States Department of State, Mr Hastie said any port sale must pass a strict public interest test.
"Our ports are our lifeline in both peace and war and if we are going to sell Fremantle's, it should be to friends," he said.
"So I would oppose the sale of Fremantle port to a state-owned enterprise that did not share our Australian values."
Mr Hastie, who is chairman of the US Parliamentary Friendship Group and a member of the Joint Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs, Defence and Trade, said he was speaking about any interested buyer, not specifically about the Chinese.
Senior US officials said last year they were "stunned" Australia sold the Darwin port to Chinese interests.
"I couldn't believe the Australian defence ministry went along with this," former US deputy secretary of state Richard Armitage told The Australian Financial Review in November.
"And I was further stunned to find out that apparently this did not come up in the A-US talks [Australia-United States Ministerial Consultations]."
Mr Hastie said Premier Colin Barnett was correct on the sale of Fremantle's port, but he wanted to ensure a sell-off was in the national interest.
"The average Australian is quite concerned about this, and I’ve had a lot of mail," he said.
"Barnett hasn’t got this wrong, his instincts are right, but I’m looking at this from a national security point-of-view; I don't want to repeat of the sale of the Darwin port, which was a disaster.
"I'm for the sale but we also need to do our due diligence beforehand.
"The Indian Ocean is going to be critical to Australian security in coming years, we need to keep our lines of trade and communication open."
Mr Barnett's proposal to sell the port fell through last month after the National party refused to support it, but the Premier has vowed to take the issue to next year's election.
"The National party are applying a fairly parochial perspective, but I’m not channelling the Nats, I’m looking from a national security perspective and for future generations of Australians," Mr Hastie said.
