Premier Andrews is in too deep over Belt and Road Initiative deal

Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews is ‘out of his depth’ on China. Picture: AAP

The Belt and Road Initiative “framework agreement” between Victoria and China was signed by Labor Premier Daniel Andrews and Ning Jizhe, vice-chairman of the National Development and Reform Commission, without any consultation with the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade.

A DFAT spokesman said: “Victoria advised the department of the framework agreement on the day it was signed and announced.”

This BRI agreement is not supported by Australia’s diplomats or intelligence community because it’s entirely contrary to Australia’s national interests and consequently opposed by the Victorian Liberal Nationals. If the Coalition wins the next state election, this dud deal will be terminated.

Peter Jennings, the executive director of the Australian Strategic Policy Institute, also has doubts about the deal’s merit. “Ultimately, BRI is a political strategy designed to further the aims and interests of the Chinese Communist Party. One CCP aim is to increase the dependency of developing states on China. This objective runs counter to Australian interests and counter to the interests of developing countries. Australian companies should avoid being drawn into a CCP strategy.”

Recently, Andrew Forrest disgraced himself by bringing the Chinese consul general for Victoria, uninvited, to a press conference with federal Health Minister Greg Hunt. Forrest, by facilitating a communist official brazenly gatecrashing the minister’s event, highlights a broader problem with Australia’s business community and Communist China. They do not seem to understand that while a commercial relationship with China is economically advantageous to Australia’s future, China is not a democracy, and is behaving in a way contrary to a rules-based international order — whether that is by arbitrarily dumping its treaty obligations with regards to Hong Kong (the one-country, two-systems policy), its internment of Uighurs, or its actions in the South China Sea.

Last week the Chinese consulate in Melbourne complained that critics of BRI were “deliberately discrediting (it) for political purposes”, as Andrews was arguing that having a strong trade relationship with China can only be through the Belt and Road Initiative.

So whose side is Daniel Andrews on here?

Andrews is out of his depth. Australia has a free-trade agreement with China, and this conflicting propaganda agreement between the CCP and a state government further complicates our difficult geopolitical environment.

China just imposed an 80 per cent tariff on Australian barley imports, one of Victoria’s two largest cereal exports, in response to the federal government’s decision to push for an independent investigation into the COVID-19 pandemic. Nonetheless, Victorian Treasurer Tim Pallas blamed the victim, accusing the federal government of being the cause for the Chinese government punishment.

Australia is a Five Eyes intelligence partner with Canada, New Zealand, Britain and the US, and America is serious about its engagement with Australia. Make no mistake about its commitment to its role as a Pacific superpower. That’s why Secretary of State Mike Pompeo warned “every citizen of Australia should know that every one of those Belt and Road projects needs to be looked at incredibly closely”. Andrews and Pallas should listen to the chief US diplomat, who is a genuine friend of Australia.

The Victorian government doesn’t have access to ASIS, the Australian Signals Directorate, the Office of National Assessments or Five Eyes intelligence.

State Labor should listen to its federal colleagues; even they know Victoria signing up to BRI is not in the national interest. Australia should only ever speak with one voice on the global stage.

Tim Smith is the member for Kew in the Victorian Legislative Assembly.