Daniel Andrews minister Danny Pearson fails to condemn vile tweet

The Andrews government minister who played a key role in negotiations over Victoria’s Belt and Road deal has refused to condemn Chinese government official Zhao Lijian’s tweet.

Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews. Picture: David Geraghty

The Andrews government minister who played a key role in negotiations with China over Victoria’s Belt and Road deal has refused to condemn Chinese government official Zhao Lijian’s tweet of a doctored image depicting a ­grinning Australian soldier holding a bloodied knife to the throat of an Afghan child.

As parliamentary secretary to Premier Daniel Andrews, Danny Pearson travelled to China twice in 2019 — initially by himself in September and then alongside the Premier the following month where they met with senior Chinese government representatives and signed a Belt and Road Initiative framework agreement, following on from the BRI ­memorandum of understanding Victoria signed with China in 2018.

Holding a press conference in his current role as Minister for Creative Industries on Wednesday, Mr Pearson declined to comment when asked whether he condemned the tweet.

Asked for his view on Mr Pearson’s refusal to comment, Mr Andrews, who described the tweet as “beyond the pale” and “appalling”, said Mr Pearson had “no responsibilities for those matters”.

“He’s the Assistant Treasurer, Minister for Government Services and Minister for Creative Industries,” Andrews said.

“That’s the responsibilities he has. I’ve not seen his comments, I don’t know the details of the question that he was asked. I think I’ve made the government’s position very clear.”

Asked whether he would counsel Mr Pearson, Mr Andrews said he would not.

“I don’t think I’d waste my time. That’s a trivial matter, with the greatest of respect,” he said.

“I haven’t seen his comments, I’ve just given you some pretty frank and clear answers, you’ve invited me to go a bit further, I haven’t, and I don’t necessarily think I’m going to spend every day before you guys interpreting every word that comes out of every other minister’s mouth.”

Asked about Mr Pearson’s trips to China, Mr Andrews said: “Yeah, he’s been to China, many times. Many of my colleagues have been to China.”

Asked whether Mr Pearson had accompanied him to China on trips related to the Belt and Road deal, Mr Andrews hit back at a journalist, saying: “And what’s the relevance of that?”

The journalist said he had simply wanted to check the record.

“Check, check away. Honestly,” Mr Andrews said.

Earlier this year The Australian revealed Mr Pearson had given a speech in state parliament lauding China’s handling of the coronavirus outbreak. Leaked Chinese documents made public this week revealed Chinese authorities initially tried to cover up the severity of COVID-19.

Mr Andrews said the anti-Australian tweet was “beyond the pale” and “just off”, but also called on the federal government to ­“refocus on trying to repair” the relationship with China.