Daniel Andrews branded a ‘traitor’ for posing next to Xi Jinping, Vladimir Putin and Kim Jong-un in Beijing
Jacinta Allan has downplayed Daniel Andrews joining dictators at a Chinese military parade but the Premier is facing calls to take a stand against her predecessor.
Former premier Daniel Andrews has been blasted as a “useful idiot” and a “traitor” after mingling with authoritarian dictators at a celebration of China’s military might in Beijing.
The man dubbed “Dictator Dan” by his critics during the Covid pandemic joined despots from the new “axis of evil” as a guest of honour at the event marking 80 years since World War II.
After a warm handshake greeting from Chinese President Xi Jinping, Mr Andrews posed for a group photo featuring Russian President Vladimir Putin and North Korean Supreme Leader Kim Jong-un, before joining them at an indoor commemoration event in the evening.
The event was also attended by Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian, after his regime was recently blamed for orchestrating the firebombing of a Melbourne synagogue.
Association of Ukrainians in Victoria chairman Eugene Hawryszko said his members were “outraged and disgusted” by the sight of Mr Andrews near Mr Putin.
“He is standing next to a person who is bombing Ukrainian civilians as we speak,” he said.
“I can understand going over for trade, but going there for a military parade is just not acceptable, given what we have endured.”
But despite widespread condemnation from Victoria’s Ukrainian and Taiwanese communities, national security experts, and senior figures from both major parties, his appearance was downplayed by Premier Jacinta Allan and Prime Minister Anthony Albanese on Wednesday.
The Chinese Communist Party invited Mr Andrews to attend the parade alongside former NSW premier Bob Carr, who ultimately decided to pull out of the main event.
Describing Mr Andrews as a “traitor”, Mr Hawryszko called on Ms Allan to publicly distance herself from him so that Ukrainian Victorians would feel supported by their government.
“Jacinta, please, you’re a leader of our state, why would you let your ex-leader do this?” he said. “It’s a massive, disgraceful betrayal.”
Strategic Analysis Australia director Michael Shoebridge said Mr Andrews and Mr Carr were “being used by the Chinese Communist Party and are being displayed like souvenir trophies”.
“They both know the controversy around their attendance, and they are proceeding with that in mind,” he said.
Former White House national security adviser Dr Michael Green, the chief executive of the United States Studies Centre in Sydney, said: “If the purpose was to encourage commercial relations with China then a more defensible move would have been to join the Australian Ambassador for the trade conference in Guangzhou at the same time.”
Mr Shoebridge urged Ms Allan to proceed carefully with her planned visit to China this month in the wake of her predecessor’s mistake.
“I think it would be very wise for the Premier to give a healthy air gap between the visit of the former premier and the current Premier to China, just to let some clean water flow through the pipes,” he said.
Liberal senator Jane Hume blasted Mr Andrews as a “useful idiot” and criticised his extraordinary lack of judgment”.
Asked about Mr Andrews’s visit to Beijing, Ms Allan did not criticise him, instead saying it was “good for Victoria” that he was “held in such high regard by the people of China”.
“Victoria is an old friend of China and these connections are so valuable for our state,” she said.
Her comments came after state government minister Vicki Ward deflected questions by saying Mr Andrews was “a private individual and these are choices that he’s made in a private capacity”.
Ms Ward was also pressed on criticism from Taiwan over the visit and whether he was too close to China, prompting her to respond: “What’s the connotation here?”
Mr Albanese, asked if he thought Mr Andrews’s attendance alongside dictators was appropriate, replied: “He’s not meeting them”.
“At the 70th anniversary, 10 years ago, the former government sent a Liberal minister Michael Ronaldson to represent the Australian government,” he told parliament. He also confirmed the government sent Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade diplomats to the parade.
The visit was panned by figures from both major parties, with former Queensland premier Annastacia Palaszczuk saying Mr Andrews and Mr Carr had gone a “bridge too far” and their attendance sent “mixed messages”.
“I respect Dan, I respect Bob, but I think they’ve just gone the next level,” she said.
“Trade is one thing, and tourism, but military parades … I would honestly stop and think seriously about that.”
Opposition home affairs spokesman Andrew Hastie said the attendance of Mr Andrews alongside former foreign minister Bob Carr “reflects poorly on their judgment,” adding that Australians will see “them clap like seals as the missiles roll by on the parade”.
“When you know that Vladimir Putin, when you know that Kim Jong-un is going, this is a parade for dictators, it’s a celebration of the Chinese Communist Party, and I think it’s very strange that we have two former Australian political leaders attending in a private capacity”.
