Darwin Free Port Bill passes NT Legislative Assembly

The Northern Territory Legislative Assembly has passed the Darwin Free Port Establishment Act, creating the legislative framework for Australia's first fully operational free trade zone in Darwin Harbour and establishing the Darwin Free Port Authority as the regulatory body that will govern the zone's operations, licensing, and customs facilitation arrangements.

The Act establishes a special customs regime for the free port area that allows goods to be stored, processed, and re-exported without incurring the import duties and GST that apply in the rest of Australia, creating the commercial advantage that will attract the logistics, manufacturing, and distribution businesses whose economic activity the NT government has targeted as the primary driver of Darwin's economic diversification beyond the public sector.

Chief Minister Eva Lawler said the passage of the Act was "the culmination of years of advocacy for a policy that has transformed economies from Singapore to Dubai to Rotterdam," noting that the geographic positioning of Darwin — within six hours' flying time of more than two billion people in Southeast Asia and South Asia — gave the Darwin Free Port a natural competitive advantage that the new legislative framework would allow the market to exploit.

The federal government has provided the customs treaty amendments and the border force cooperation arrangements that the free port requires to operate legally within the national customs framework, reflecting the Albanese government's support for the policy as part of its commitment to strengthening the Northern Territory's economic base.

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