Victorian taxpayers foot $12,000 bill for trade envoy to attend BRI talks in China

Victoria’s China-based trade commissioner spent $12,500 of taxpayers’ funds to join a three-day trade delegation in China.

The Australia-China Belt & Road Initiative delegation in Beijing last year.

Victoria’s China-based trade commissioner spent $12,500 of taxpayers’ funds to join a three-day trade delegation in China run by Belt and Road Initiative lobbyist Jean Dong.

Victorian Commissioner for China Tim Dillon paid the five-figure fee to participate in the trade and investment mission run by Ms Dong’s Australia-China Belt and Road Initiative last ­October.

Just two weeks after the ACBRI event — which included a reception at the Australian embassy­ in Beijing — Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews signed a Belt and Road “framework agreement” in China.

Mr Dillon was quoted on ACBRI’s website, which has been pulled down since The Australian revealed Ms Dong’s role, assaying: “I was impressed with the seniority of executives of the Chinese ­participants. An excellent infor­mation-gathering and business networking opportunity.”

A self-proclaimed pro-China influencer, Ms Dong, 32, has emerged at the centre of a polit­ical row over Mr Andrews’s decis­ion to sign up to the contro­versial global investment push.

Mr Andrews has said Ms Dong was not present at the signing of the framework agreement with China’s National Development and Reform Commission.

An ACBRI spokesman said Ms Dong met Mr Andrews at a public event in Beijing in 2017 but that was the only interaction ­between the pair in China.

The Premier addressed an ACBRI event in Melbourne and his government awarded her firm two contracts valued at $36,850 to advise it on the Belt and Road Initiati­ve. The $12,500 delegation fee is the third Andrews government payment to Ms Dong, bringing her total taxpayer-funded earnings to almost $50,000.

“Victoria’s Commissioner for China joined business leaders from a range of industries at a three-day business event in October­ 2019 that was part of an ACBRI delegation,” a state governme­nt spokesman said. “(He) promoted the state’s infrastructure pipeline, renewable energy and technology capabilities.”

It’s understood about 20 Aust­ralian business leaders participated in the Dong trade mission. It’s unclear if they all paid the $12,500 fee Mr Dillon was charged.

“The costs to delegates are commercial in confidence. They are set to recover the costs of holding the delegation,” an ACBRI spokesman said.

In addition to the consultancy contracts, ACBRI is a registered service provider for Victoria’s Asian Gateway Voucher prog­ram. This authorises the pro-China company to receive one-off payments of up to $50,000 from the state government in retur­n for providing local businesses with support in accessing the Asian market.

Despite being registered for more than two years, ACBRI has yet to assist any businesses under the scheme.

The Dong delegation was welcomed by Australia’s ambassador to China, Graham Fletcher, at a formal reception at the Aust­ralian embassy in Beijing. ACBRI advisory board member and former­ Liberal trade minister Andrew­ Robb responded, an ACBRI spokesman said.

Ms Dong launched ACBRI in 2015 before recruiting Mr Robb and former Labor finance minister Lindsay Tanner to the organisation. The company describes both ex-MPs as “our people” on its website.

Mr Robb declined to comment when contacted by The Aust­ralian, saying only: “You know, the way the stick has been taken to this is unbelievable. But anyway­, I understand all that too. There’s a rush of blood everywhere, but OK.”

Mr Tanner confirmed only that he remained associated with ACBRI, his sole other comment being: “I have nothing to say.”

Asked how much money Mr Robb and Mr Tanner were paid to sit on ACBRI’s advisory board, a company spokesman said the roles were “unpaid”.

The Belt and Road deal dominated question time when the Victorian parliament resumed on Tuesday following an extended break due to the pandemic.

Mr Andrews also stood by government staffer Nancy Yang after The Australian revealed the former Chinese consulate employee with links to the highest levels of the Chinese Communist Party’s United Front Work Department had posted a series of articles and videos online suggesting the coronavirus was creat­ed by the US and transported to China by the US military.

“I don’t hold any conspiracy theories. They’re not things that I sign up to, but I would say to you that the staffer in question is a fine young person who’s working very hard for her community,” he said.