There has been a call for clarity over how the ADF will use an airfield on the Cocos (Keeling) Islands after a $568 million upgrade, amid fears it will create a security risk.
The Australian Defence Force has plans for a $568 million upgrade to the airfield at the Cocos Islands to accommodate heavier military planesA defence researcher says concerns that ADF investment poses a security threat are understandable but unfounded
Shire of the Cocos Islands chief executive Frank Mills said islanders were anticipating significant changes during construction over the next few years, but also asked whether the investment posed a security threat to the community. The Cocos Keeling Islands are a group of 27 coral islands — two of which are inhabited — about 2,750 kilometres north-west of Perth.
"It'd be good to be able to have those genuine discussions so that people out here can make their own minds up, as to whether it's a safe and secure environment for them to look at living at long term," he said. But its location meant it could play an important role for surveillance in the north-eastern Indian Ocean and South-East Asia, as well as working with neighbours like India.
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