Coercion and competition from China are driving bigger and stronger government in Australia, and the debate over how the deficits are ultimately to be paid for.
The 2018 laws passed by the Turnbull government to ban foreign political donations ensures there won’t be buckets of money from Chinese citizens funding the coming election.
If you think that’s a jaundiced version of history, recall that Huang Xiangmo, the Chinese billionaire, donated $2.7 million to both political parties before he was barred from Australia, and extracted pro-Beijing policy commitments from a prominent ALP senator in return.
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Richard McGregor is a senior fellow at the Lowy Institute in Sydney.
