It was inevitable that the purchase of Bellamy’s and Lion Dairy & Drinks by China Mengniu Dairy would rattle the cages of Sinophobes who view Chinese investment in Australia, and our ever-deepening economic ties with China, in Manchurian terms.

This is the subtext to Pauline Hanson’s latest parliamentary stunt: a bill to protect the Australian dairy industry by establishing a minimum farm gate price and supposedly stop Australia “losing access to fresh milk and becoming reliant on milk powder imported from another country”. The dog whistle is that China is stealing our milk.