USMC Garrison Arrives in Australia

The first group of 200 Marines arrive in Australia on a hardship tour training mission.

The first contingent of 200 United States Marines has arrived in Darwin.

The troops are there on a six-month rotational basis and will take part in training exercises with the Australian Defence Force.

The two countries are boosting defence ties, with the US eventually deploying a 2,500-strong force in northern Australia by 2017.

The move has irked Beijing but US and Australian leaders have stressed it is not an attempt to contain China.

Welcoming the troops, Australia's Defence Minister Stephen Smith said the decision to host them was a response to a changing global balance.

"The world needs to essentially come to grips with the rise of China, the rise of India, the move of strategic and political and economic influence to our part of the world," he said.

By: Brant