Labor’s pitch for Chinese votes back in Victoria
Victorian Labor MPs are pounding the pavement in China to win over voters back home.
A junior minister accompanying Jacinta Allan in China says he wants to reach Chinese-Victorians directly on social media to promote Labor’s achievements on the trip, as his party looks to shore up support among the community ahead of next year’s election.
The Victorian Premier and parliamentary secretary for jobs Paul Hamer toured several businesses in Shanghai on Wednesday, including the headquarters of popular Chinese grocery delivery app Dingdong Fresh, where they announced a deal to feature Victorian produce prominently on the home page.
They also announced a deal between Victorian-based company Assemco and China’s biggest manufacturer of trains and tram interior fittings to fit out Melbourne’s new G Class trams.
Mr Hamer, the member for Box Hill, which has a 13,000-strong Chinese community, the second highest of any state electorate, has been keeping followers on Chinese social media app WeChat updated each day.
In his first post from Beijing, Mr Hamer highlighted his and Ms Allan’s meeting with China’s Education Minister Huai Jinpeng and the signing of a memorandum of understanding between Victoria and China’s education departments.
He also spruiked Monday night’s launch of the new China strategy at the Waldorf Astoria hotel, attended by business owners in Melbourne’s Chinatown and Box Hill, saying the plan set out “how we will continue to grow our relationship with China over the next five years”.
Mr Hamer, who holds his seat on a 7.2 per cent margin, on Wednesday said he had a large Chinese community in his electorate and “It’s really important they stay informed about what we’re doing in China. Many of them are involved in their own import and export businesses as well, so they’re really looking forward to opportunities for further trade.
“The (Chinese) community is very excited and pleased I’ve made the trip to China, and seeing those opportunities that will present themselves in the future.
“I think it’s to do with community connection because many of them have come from places like Beijing, Nanjing and Shanghai, and seeing their representative is in their city of birth and a city they know well … just goes to build a stronger connection.”
Four Labor backbench MPs have joined Ms Allan and Mr Hamer on the trip, with the Premier declaring that connecting with Victorian-Chinese voters was a key part of the state’s new China strategy released this week.
None of the Labor backbenchers has given interviews to the travelling media on their taxpayer-funded travel, but Ashwood MP Matt Fregon and Clarinda MP Meng Heang Tak have been posting to followers on Instagram.
Former Liberal premier Jeff Kennett has called for the Labor Party, or the backbench MPs personally, to pay for their travel. “The Labor Party should pay for their costs or they themselves,” he said in a social media post.
MP John Mullahy’s electorate of Glen Waverley, based on 2021 census data, has the third highest Chinese community numbering 12,698. Mr Fregon’s electorate of Ashwood is the fifth highest with 8601 and Mr Tak’s seat of Clarinda has almost 3000 people of Chinese heritage. The Chinese community in MP Mathew Hilakari’s electorate of Point Cook numbers more than 4700.
Glen Waverley is the most marginal of the five electorates, with Labor holding it on a 3.3 per cent margin.
The four other MPs aren’t formally considered part of the official delegation because of restrictions under the state’s ministerial guidelines for international travel. Backbench MPs travelling overseas on parliamentary or electorate business are not covered by the guidelines, and they have to “always engage the commonwealth Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade as early as possible when developing travel plans”. Regardless, they have been following the Premier to each of the cities she has visited.
Asked to respond to Mr Kennett’s comments, Ms Allan on Wednesday said she was far too focused on her China trip than on “some random social media post from a former premier”.
“I think it’s a good thing that members of parliament are investing time in the relationship, representing their communities, and coming to China to strengthen that partnership,” she said.
“Having these relationships and partnerships is going to be a good outcome for us into the future. And at a time when there can be many concerns about global instability, that’s how you get stability – having a shared understanding of culture built on language and friendship.”
Declaring that regional Victoria, education and connecting with Chinese-Victorians were the three key themes of her China strategy, Ms Allan said the Chinese community was “in many ways our navigator through this relationship” and gave Victoria a “strategic edge”.
“Recognising that long, historic and deep relationship that we have with China and the huge number of Chinese-Victorians who call Melbourne and Victoria home, presents us with a gift that the Chinese communities are the navigators through this relationship,” she said.
Chinese-Australian voters have heavily favoured Labor in recent elections at the federal and state level, particularly since the breakdown in relations between the former Morrison government and Beijing during the pandemic.
Research by the Lowy Institute and the Australia-China Relations Institute has found Chinese-Australians are more likely to have upbeat assessments of China than the average voter.
James Laurenceson, director of the ACRI, said this is why it made good domestic politics for the Labor MPs to post about their on-the-ground China experience via social media. He said Chinese-Australian voters in their electorates would be watching the trip “but we shouldn’t overstate it: just like other voters, Chinese-Australians a more concerned about the cost of living, healthcare, education and so on”.
“But having a local representative who proudly engages with their country of origin has greater salience, particularly when other issues like immigration and race are being more heatedly contested in the domestic political debate,” he said.
Mr Laurenceson said he didn’t see any political risk for Labor in highlighting the trip, but pointed to reporting in The Australian about the barriers to lifting the number of Chinese students and investment in Victoria as the main risk for Ms Allan going forward.
“Chinese-Australians, just like other Australians, are broadly pragmatic when it comes to China,” he said.
“There’s plenty about Beijing and China’s political system they don’t like. But they recognise that China is a reality that can’t be wished away and there are real benefits from engaging with it.”
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