‘No justification’: PM calls for China sanctions to be lifted

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has called on China to reverse its sanctions against Australia, saying there was ‘no justification’.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese says it is in China’s interest to lift all sanctions against Australia amid rumblings it may turf a long-held ban on coal imports.

There are suggestions China is proposing to end an almost two year ban on Australian coal as tensions between the two countries begin to ease.

Mr Albanese said there were “no justifications” for the China sanctions against Aussie goods.

“It’s in China’s interest to lift all of the sanctions against Australia and it’s in Australia’s interest for that to happen as well,” he told Sky News on Sunday.

“I want to co-operate with China where we can, I’ll stand up for Australia’s interests, where we must.

“There’s no justification for these sanctions on Australian products and they all should be lifted.”

Beijing’s ban on imports of Australian coal came at a time of great tension between the Chinese Communist Party and the then-Morrison government.

Scott Morrison’s push for a probe into the origins of Covid did not go down well with Beijing and further soured an already tense relationship between the two nations.

The rumoured reversal would signal a big breakthrough for Australia-China relations, and would be a win for the new Albanese Government.

Originally published as ‘No justification’: PM calls for China sanctions to be lifted