Great Brawl of China: Premier Daniel Andrews pressured to release controversial secret deal
PRESSURE is growing on Premier Daniel Andrews to release a secret trade and infrastructure deal he signed with the Chinese as the federal government moves to boost its spending in the Pacific amid concerns over China’s increasing influence.
Victoria State Election
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PRESSURE is growing on Premier Daniel Andrews to release details of a secret trade and infrastructure deal he signed with China on the eve of the state election campaign.
The confidential agreement has put Victorian Labor at odds with the federal government, which is moving to boost its presence and spending in the Pacific amid concerns over China’s increasing influence.
Prime Minister Scott Morrison has criticised Mr Andrews’ deal, saying it sends “mixed messages” and undermines federal foreign policy.
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Mr Morrison will on Thursday outline plans to pump $2 billion into infrastructure in neighbouring island nations, declaring it is Australia’s duty to look after them: “This is our patch where we have special responsibilities. Always have, always will.”
As the debate over Chinese interference rages, Treasurer Josh Frydenberg warned he would block a Hong Kong-owned company from buying an Australian business that controls Victoria’s gas pipelines.
Mr Andrews’ controversial deal links Victoria with China’s Belt and Road Initiative, in which the superpower is building infrastructure projects worldwide costing billions of dollars, to expand its political power.
Mr Andrews continued to defend his government’s Memorandum of Understanding with China, saying it would result in “more wine, more wool, more beef, more professional services being exported, to create more jobs right here in Victoria”.
He has refused to release details of the agreement, citing commercial confidentiality.
Some federal Labor MPs have expressed disbelief at Mr Andrews’ covert agreement with a Communist nation.
Opposition Leader Matthew Guy vowed to release details of the deal if elected, and while stopping short of a promise to scrap it, he said: “I just want to know what’s in it.”
The Premier brushed aside concerns about China’s human rights record, saying “those matters are rightly the province of the federal government” — and said federal ministers were currently visiting China, one of Australia’s biggest trading partners.
Chinese state-run media has celebrated the deal with Victoria as a way to bypass a federal government more worried about “national security and ideology”.
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The Herald Sun understands the federal government’s Foreign Investments Review Board could step in if Victoria becomes involved in Chinese infrastructure deals deemed to jeopardise the nation’s interests.
Federal crossbench senator Rex Patrick called for a parliamentary inquiry into the “significant breakdown of Commonwealth-state co-ordination on a highly important and sensitive trade and foreign policy issue”.
Mr Morrison said the deal was “a bit of a surprise” and it “would have been helpful” if Mr Andrews had engaged more with the federal government about it. “Foreign policy is the domain of the Commonwealth government,” he said.
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In his speech, Mr Morrison will outline plans for five new Australian diplomatic missions in Pacific nations, joint sporting events, and a push for more Australian content on Pacific TV screens.
The $2 billion Australian Infrastructure Financing Facility for the Pacific will include a mix of funding agreements and interest-free loans for new projects in the region, which could help island nations reduce their reliance on China’s Belt and Road cash.
Australia’s export credit agency will be given another $1 billion to fund infrastructure in the Pacific.
Federal Opposition Leader Bill Shorten outlined a similar plan last week to create a government-backed infrastructure investment bank to help “build the sovereignty of the Pacific states”.
Mr Frydenberg, who also criticised Victoria’s “secret deal” with China, announced on Wednesday he intended to block Hong Kong-owned CK Asset Holding Ltd from buying APA Group, which owns 74 per cent of Victoria’s gas pipelines.
He made the call after discussions with the Foreign Investment Review Board and the Critical Infrastructure Centre, and said the deal would have otherwise resulted “in an undue concentration of foreign ownership … in our most significant gas transmission business”.
— additional reporting by Matt Johnston
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