Transport Department to face VCAT over refusal to release advice on Uighurs

The Department of Transport has been ordered to face the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal after it refused to release advice it provided to the Andrews government that rejected claims a Chinese company building Melbourne’s new train fleet benefited from Uighur labour.

CRRC Changchun Railway Vehicles, which defeated local bids in 2016 to win the $2.3 billion contract to build 65 high-capacity metro trains, was identified by the Australian Strategic Policy Institute as one of 82 companies potentially directly or indirectly benefiting from the use of Uighur workers through abusive labour transfer programs.

Premier Daniel Andrews and Transport Infrastructure Minister Jacinta Allan unveiling the new CRRC trains in 2018. Credit: Justin McManus

Last year, Transport Infrastructure Minister Jacinta Allan said her department had reassured her that the company was not benefiting from Uighur slave labour.

“I asked some months ago for that to be examined by my department ... and I was advised that there was no evidence of that,” Ms Allan told ABC Radio.

The Victorian opposition has taken the Department of Transport to VCAT after it initially failed to respond to its freedom-of-information request seeking access to the documents and advice it provided to the minister. The department told Mr Davis on Wednesday afternoon that it had refused his request.

The matter will be heard on Monday, the opposition spokesman on transport infrastructure David Davis said.

“Melbourne’s high-capacity metro trains are being constructed by a Communist Chinese government-owned train manufacturer, the world’s largest,” Mr Davis said.

“Allegations have been aired internationally that this train manufacturer, or elements of its supply chain, may be utilising the forced slave labour of the persecuted Chinese Muslim minority Uighur population.

“Victorians have every right to see the advice Minister Allan claims to have been provided that our
[high-capacity metro trains] project is not tainted by the use of slave labour ... If the Andrews government has nothing to fear, it should have nothing to hide.

Satellite image of a detention camp in Xinjiang, China, in September 2020.Credit: ASPI

“So why the need to go to VCAT to get the advice the minister claims to have been provided?”

The Department of Transport said it had refused the document on the grounds it was an internal working document.

“The Victorian government was deeply concerned by allegations of forced labour by any company linked to Victoria’s rolling stock supply chain,” a spokesman said.

“Our trains are being manufactured here in Victoria, and we have received repeated assurances from the manufacturers that there is no evidence of forced labour in their supply chains.

“We have asked our manufacturers to take additional steps to ensure the integrity of their supply chains. We will continue to monitor the situation closely and will consider further steps based on the outcomes of ongoing supply chain investigations.”

The Chinese government has received international condemnation for its network of “re-education camps” in Xinjiang, where it detains Uighurs, a Muslim minority group, in what some experts have called a systematic, government-led program of cultural genocide.

The Chinese government has repeatedly denied accusations of human rights abuses, including genocide, in the region.

The Australian Strategic Policy Institute’s Uyghurs for Sale investigation last year found there was mounting evidence that many detained Uighurs were being forced to work in factories within Xinjiang, and that Chinese factories outside Xinjiang were sourcing Uighur workers under a “revived, exploitative government-led labour-transfer scheme”.

CRRC Changcun Railways is a subsidiary of Chinese state-owned rolling stock manufacturer CRRC, which has also been flagged by the US Defence Department as a cyber-security threat.

Premier Daniel Andrews last year fended off concerns about potential human rights abuses linked to CRRC, saying “we don’t agree with everything that is done in every country”.

“But ultimately we are about getting things done,” Mr Andrews said at the time. “We have sought assurances that it is not an accurate statement in relation to the work we have contracted them to do and have received those assurances.”

Start your day informed

Our Morning Edition newsletter is a curated guide to the most important and interesting stories, analysis and insights. Sign up here.