A landowner of Stirling Islands, Ronnie Kidoe, says he had written to the government offering Mono Island as a possible location for the government's planned regional military base.
Mr Kidoe says that he understands that the government is looking for a location to establish a regional military base."Mono people are prepared to offer Stirling Islands being the original Allied military and naval base during the Second World War," said Mr Kidoe in an interview with the National Broadcaster.
Government insiders close to the arrangement say that such discussions are still being conducted in private. "These are discussions taking place at the regional level as it is always high on the agenda for all of us, but there is no concrete commitment by those involved."
The government had initially planned to offer to the Australian Government Stirling Island as a possible site for the processing of asylum seekers. The planned offer has since been withdrawn after Australia made it clear that it intends to open the processing centre in Malaysia.