PM opening door to ‘peaceful’ relationship with China

Mining magnate Twiggy Forrest has praised Prime Minister Anthony Albanese’s attitude towards long-term business opportunities in the Australia-China relationship.

One of the country’s biggest mining magnates has praised Anthony Albanese for bringing Australia “into the realm” of a “peaceful, long term relationship” with China after high-stakes talks in Shanghai.

The Prime Minister held a roundtable on Monday with Australian iron ore giants and Chinese steelmaking titans as part of his six-day business-heavy state visit.

Mr Albanese used it to spruik Australian ore, which employs some 60,000 people, as the obvious greener option to feed China’s ravenous steel industry as it moves to clean up the sector.

Australian businessman Andrew “Twiggy” Forrest address the media at a Steel Decarbonisation Roundtable in Shanghai, China. Picture: NewsWire / Joseph Olbrycht-Palmer

Fortescue chairman Twiggy Forrest, who was at the roundtable, lauded it as an opportunity to “generate a serious jobs boom in both China for green steel and particularly for Australia in green iron”.

“We forecast hundreds of thousands of new jobs, plus multiplier effects across China,” Mr Forrest told reporters, standing alongside Mr Albanese and fellow mining chiefs from BHP, Hancock and Rio Tinto.

Mr Forrest was eager to lean into Mr Albanese’s mission to shift focus from the increasingly militaristic regional rivalry to more positive things, such as tariff-free trade and people-to-people links.

“Across Australia, we have people who want a peaceful, long term relationship with China,” Mr Forrest said.

“The Prime Minister has brought us into the realm of that peaceful, long term relationship, invaluable for the economies of both countries and invaluable for the growth and employment in both countries.”

Nearly 145,000 Australians work in the metal ore mining industry, according to the latest official figures.

In 2024, iron ore exports alone were worth north of $150bn.

But it is a dirty business in a world scrambling for green options, and both Australia and China have been vying to become world leaders in decarbonisation.

Twiggy said the steel and iron industries could facilitate a “peaceful, long-term” relationship between Australia and China. Picture: NewsWire / Joseph Olbrycht-Palmer

“We supply half of the world’s iron ore and we’re responsible for more than half of China’s iron ore imports,” Mr Albanese told the same press conference.

“We know that steel is the backbone of the modern economy.

“But we also know that we need to decarbonise these processes if we are going to successfully deal with the challenge of climate change, but also the opportunity that it represents.”

He added he had been “struck” by how both camps at the roundtable embraced the “common interest … about changing the nature of furnaces, decarbonisation, the use of hydrogen, the use of research as well and collaboration between Australia and China”

“We want Australian iron ore to be part of the solution when it comes to lowering emissions, and we understand that China wants that too, and that was reiterated today,” Mr Albanese said.

“We want to see a sustainable steel sector in China and globally, and we want to build a future that keeps Australian jobs and our economy strong.

“Australia and China each have major stakes in the decarbonisation efforts.

“This is important not just for our two countries, but because of the impact of decarbonisation that it will have as part of addressing climate change.”

The press conference served as a platform for reporters to grill the Prime Minister on other issues, including the Port of Darwin.

One reporter said an “influential state media influence” from China had posted an essay on Mr Albanese’s trip, focusing on the implications of the Prime Minister’s plan to place the Port of Darwin back under Australian ownership.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said Australia had a ‘very clear’ position on the future of the Port of Darwin. Picture: NewsWire / Joseph Olbrycht-Palmer

The influencer warned that if Australia “insists on tearing up the Port of Darwin contract, the Chinese side may take counter measures” such as “restricting Australian market access in China or tightening imports of key resources.”

“We have a very clear position that we want the port to go into Australian ownership,” Mr Albanese said.

“We’ve been clear about it, orderly about it, and we will go through that process.

“I’m not sure who the blogger is … Governments cannot respond in policy terms to every time there is an article written, a tweet or a blog and change their position.”

Landbridge Group is the Chinese-owned operator that hold a 99-year lease on the Port of Darwin, and it has frequently denied links to the Chinese military and the Chinese Communist Party.

Originally published as PM opening door to ‘peaceful’ relationship with China