Who is Daniel Andrews’ new business partner, Marty Mei?

Daniel Andrews has political powerbrokers and captains of industry on speed dial. But in his first venture outside politics, Victoria’s former premier has bypassed them and is instead teaming up with a little-known former political staffer, Zheng Mei.

“I don’t really know him at all,” said one former Labor cabinet member, who declined to be named. “He was just one of the multitude of staffers… Not someone I followed. Just a guy.”

Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews with Marty Mei.Credit: Supplied

Mei, who goes by the name of Marty, was thrust into the national spotlight this month when news broke he and Andrews had quietly formed two companies, Wedgetail Partners and Glencairn Street Pty Ltd.

Mei worked for Andrews throughout his entire time as premier, and was best known for advising Andrews during the writing of the Victorian government’s Belt and Road Initiative deal, which was later torn up by then prime minister Scott Morrison. Mei was repeatedly contacted for comment for this story but did not respond.

In 2020, The Age reported that Mei had been instrumental in landing a $100,000 donation to the Victorian Labor Party through a key Chinese business group years before Victoria signed up to the controversial infrastructure scheme.

Mei helped secure the contribution in the lead-up to the 2014 state election while he was a member of the board of the Hunan Business Association, according to the report.

His social media profiles give some hints as to Mei’s interests – technology, soccer, racial discrimination and Asian-Australian affairs across business, art and food.

But to most, Mei remains largely unknown. So, who is Daniel Andrews’ new business partner?

The Sunday Age has spoken to a dozen current and former Victorian politicians and associates who have worked with him at one stage over the past decade.

Most describe the young man as hard-working, polite, a “nice guy” and importantly, trusted by Andrews. He worked consistently in a premier’s office where loyalty and discretion were prized values, and which tasked ministers with visiting China once per term prior to the pandemic.

Marty Mei is Daniel Andrews’ new business partner.

Mei was exposed to significant media coverage in the lead-up to the 2018 election, when details of the BRI deal were made public alongside details of Mei’s local associations and that he had accompanied Andrews to China multiple times.

One source said it was telling that Andrews brought Mei on stage at the celebration of Labor’s landslide 2018 victory, a sign of loyalty and their relationship in the face of the coverage.

“He’s an outstanding Victorian, he happens to be of Chinese origin. He is very proud of that, I am proud of him,” Andrews said in November that year.

Mei is from the Hunan province in China, the fourth-largest landlocked province in the country, and arrived in Australia around 2006 to study at RMIT.

The university described Mei as a “rising star of the Australian Chinese political community” in 2016. The profile, copied from local Chinese media lauds the “mainland newcomer” for his smooth integration into local political circles.

Mei got his start in politics working as a translator and interpreter for former Labor MP Hong Lim, who is ethnically Chinese but grew up in Cambodia’s Phnom Penh, where he was taught only in Khmer.

“I don’t speak any Mandarin myself,” Lim says. “So people like Marty helped me. He’s a very good worker.”

Lim and Mei worked together to build relations with Melbourne’s Chinese communities – a diverse and important voting bloc.

Lim said Mei was not necessarily a “rising star” but stood out because he was willing to put in the extra hours, attending community events on weekends or late at night.

“We were on 24/7. It’s pretty demanding. Not many people at that time wanted that lifestyle,” he said. “But there are people who feel very strongly about helping the community and responding to their needs and being there for them. Marty is one of them.”

The duo travelled to Hunan at one stage, where they visited the Mao Zedong Museum and met Mei’s aunt, who is the deputy mayor of the province, according to Lim.

While media reports have suggested Mei harbours political ambitions for himself, Lim rejects this.

“I don’t think he had any political ambitions. He never helped for recruiting,” Lim says. “Most Chinese kids have no political ambition at all. He’s not hungry as a politician.”

His real skill was networking, developing a Rolodex of contacts through diligent research.

“He appeared to know who to contact, and who to talk to,” Lim said. “He would research their background, activity, business network. All that sort of thing. Therefore we know who we are dealing with and what they are after and respond accordingly.”

This became a key asset, and he landed a job in Daniel Andrews’ office in 2014 following the premier’s historic election victory.

Daniel Andrews attending a “multicultural banquet”.

In this role, Mei became the government’s unofficial spokesman on international students, immigration and free trade in the Chinese press.

”As a Labor government, our attitude has always been very clear,” he told Chinese media in 2016. “We support free trade agreements, and the premier has repeatedly stated that free trade agreements are of great benefit to Victoria.“

Officially, Mei took on a multicultural adviser role – helping the government form ties with not just the Chinese community, but Jewish, Muslim and Indian constituents, according to one source.

Later, he worked with Labor MP Josh Burns, who says: “In my time, I always found Marty to be a really good colleague and a nice person and someone I enjoy working with.”

Mayoral candidate Jennifer Yang,Credit: Eamon Gallagher

While most of his time over the past decade has been spent in state politics, he has also provided unofficial assistance to local campaigns – including businesswoman Jennifer Yang in her bid to oust Melbourne lord mayor Sally Capp in 2018, according to one source who did not want to be named.

“He was working with Jen in terms of making introductions with the view to lift her profile,” said one source working on the campaign. “But also helping with basic stuff, posters on windows.”

New business?

Andrews and Mei have been tight-lipped on the nature of their new business venture.

However, contacts Mei and Andrews formed during their time in public office will no doubt form the most lucrative part of their business.

While this has become a well-trodden path for former politicians, integrity questions remain when contacts and information gained through public office is later used for personal gain in the private sphere.

Former Victorian MP Ken Coghill, who is a founding member of the Accountability Roundtable and adjunct professor at Swinburne University, said politicians must be “ever vigilant and cautious” to avoid conflicts in post-public life.

“The information which a minister has acquired is the property of the state, not the property of the minister.”

Coghill called for a “cooling-off period” of two years so politicians are prevented from taking roles in industries they have worked in during parliament, which for Andrews, would include China.

“In the end, the first consideration is the integrity of the former minister.”

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