A North Queensland-based Senator is pushing for more US Marines bases in Australia, suggesting Cairns and Townsville as host cities.

“When the US Marines were first stationed in Darwin it was said to be a pilot project,” Senator Ian Macdonald said in the Senate Foreign Affairs and Trade Committee hearing this morning.

“It would seem that with Australia’s second-largest east coast navy base in Cairns and the largest army base and a significant air force base in Townsville, that both these cities should be actively considered to host US Marines.

“Both communities have a long history of welcoming US military personnel, dating back to WWII and both cities would consider such an opportunity a privilege.”

Senator Macdonald said he was very supportive of the Darwin base and hoped that consideration would be given to extending it to other States.

In response, Mr Brendan Sargeant, Acting Secretary of the Department of Defence, said that while the Darwin involvement was a long term commitment there were no plans at this time to base US Marines in other centres, although he expected that the Marines would take part in exercises in other states.

The Federal Government is currently spending hundreds of millions of dollars to upgrade Australian Defence Force infrastructure in Darwin to accommodate about 1200 Marines.

Meanwhile, three women have passed the Marines' gruelling infantry course for the first time.

As the Washington Post reported, the women carried the same 85-pound packs on the same 12-mile hikes in North Carolina as their male counterparts.

The three women will graduate today (US time), and though the US Miltary is preparing to open ground combat forces to women, the women won’t be allowed to serve in an infantry unit for some time.