Leasing Darwin Port was a political not a legal decision, made in Canberra not Darwin. The trade park being spruiked in Mr Robb's name is to be built in Rizhao, a thriving port city between Beijing and Shanghai. All above board, maybe, but does it really pass the pub test? Christopher Pyne and the revolving door of MPs turned lobbyists He is the co-author of The Great Crash of 2008 with Ross Garnaut and was the editor of the second Garnaut Climate Change Review. He described the situation as "reviewable," suggesting he may beginworking for the company again in future. Despite pleas by non-political heads of our spy organisations, the government is today insisting on carrying on like they give a fuck about our national security. Then there is the role of Andrew Robb. Please try again later. You have entered an incorrect email address! In that time Robb also sat on the boards of numerous Australian companies including Australia's largest consulting engineering company, Sinclair Knight Merz. If Landbridge was to default, it would lose its money. Secondly, it's not 'we' this is in of those 'gotcha' questions should be asking PM Morrison. "Once the idiotic deal was done, we as a country are effectively over a barrel. Rather than sell outright, the territory government decided to lease the port, and sell a controlling stake in the ports operator. Dont pay so you can read it. Former trade minister Andrew Robb AO has told delegates at Red Meat that Asia and, in particular China, is where Australia must focus for future red meat export opportunities. Scott Morrison's Role In Selling Darwin Port To China Regardless of the merits of the comment (which the boss of ASIO has dismissed as dangerous and divisive from Dutton), it hardly comes as a surprise that China might one someone else in power other than the party that has openly attacked and started trade wars with them. Read more: A Landbridge Group company statement obtained by the ABC said Mr Robb was appointed to the role by chairman Ye Cheng at an "auspicious" ceremony two months ago. Claiming that greenhouse gas emissions have gone down when the facts clearly show otherwise; breaking the law on responding to FoI requests; reneging on promised legislation; claiming credit for legislation that doesnt exist; accepting donations that breach rules. Additionally, he conducted 85 investment roundtables with 28 countries. In cases like Sri Lanka, China offered loans to build infrastructure. But now, by design or not, the Darwin port deal increasingly looks like a blueprint for how Chinese interests can take control of foreign ports as it is doing by various means around the world without arousing local opposition. Robb then left politics and took up a lucrative consultancy gig with Landbridge less than 12 months later, making who knows how much from helping actual jeopardise our national security. By Leith van Onselen. more. Late last year, the ForeignInfluence Transparency Scheme became active with the launch of a public register for people who seek to influence the Australian political process on behalf of foreign interests. Soft power goes hard: China's economic interest in the Pacific comes with strings attached. The new register is designed to ensure that, if a person is advocating on behalf of a foreign power, it is declared. Andrew Robb joins Chinese company that controls Darwin Port - The New Daily The company statement, translated for the ABC, also quotes board chairman Ye Cheng as saying that in order for Landbridge to achieve its global goals "it will be necessary to draw on experts such as Mr Andrew Robb who have global vision and global influence". The scheme was largely prompted due to concerns about undeclared Chinese government efforts to influence Australian institutions, but applies to any lobbyist or consultant working for a company or think tank controlled by a foreignnation and involved in influencing the political process. 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[15], In October 2016, it was announced that Robb had joined the Landbridge Group,[16][17] a Chinese company which had been granted a 99-year lease on Port Darwin in 2015, as a "high-level economic consultant". A Critical Infrastructure Centre has been created to give extra national security advice. Ye Cheng, of Landbridge, and then trade minister Andrew Robb in 2015. Billionaire Ye Cheng is the owner of Landbridge, which controversially acquired the 99-year lease for the Port of Darwin in 2015. Mr Robb also took a shot at former deputy PM Barnaby Joyce for his role in the deteriorating relationship with China. Robb became deputy director of the Liberal Party before being appointed chief of staff to Andrew Peacock, then Leader of the Opposition, in 1989. 27 Apr 2023 00:13:32 Andrew Robb joins Chinese company with control of Darwin Port He is also a member of the national Chinese People's Consultative Committee, an advisory body that President Xi Jinping has directed to "uphold the CPC [Chinese Communist Party] leadership without wavering". But the Darwin port deal differs in significant ways to other . Everybody in the NT remembers the last time Darwin was caught in the middle of a conflict between the Americans and a rising Asian empire. Then trade minister Andrew Robb is congratulated after he concluded the second reading debate on the China - Australia Free Trade Agreement in 2015. controversially acquired the 99-year lease for the Port of Darwin in 2015. Glenn Campbell. But it will not share any profit that Landbridge may eventually make. The mayor of Mount Gambier, Andrew Lee, took a 10 per cent stake in the winery when it was acquired by the Ye family in October 2016 for an undisclosed amount, estimated to be more than $20 million. Robb was on the payroll of Landbridge before he resigned as an MP. Neither has the fact that Mr Robb is being used to spruik a Chinese Communist Party-backed trade park as part of his consultancy agreement. Andrew Robb joins Chinese company with control of Darwin Port, Keep up with the latest ASX and business news, MasterChef judge Jock Zonfrillo dies at age of 46. Robb was also a board member of community organisations including the Garvan Medical Research Foundation and the 'Big Brothers Big Sisters' organisation. He added that former minister Andrew Robb also took on a lucrative consulting job with . READ MORE ABOUT BLACK DOG DAZE, CLICK HERE. Chinese influence compromises the integrity of our politics, Soft power goes hard: China's economic interest in the Pacific comes with strings attached, The risks of a new Cold War between the US and China are real: here's why. Australia-China political relations had turned to custard and business ties could follow. Mr Robb had announced months earlier he would not recontest his seat of Goldstein. Mr Brumby announced in February he was quitting the Australian board of Huawei, the Chinese telco accused by security agencies of posing a security risk to western communications infrastructure. Australia was the first Western country to break through the metaphorical Great Wall of China in terms of free trade, creating a trading environment no Western G20 economy has ever enjoyed. And all of it is being done under the guise of economic development at a time of economic turbulence for those countries, Dr Garrick said, which sounds familiar to Darwin, where the NT Government is currently going through a fiscal crisis and severe economic downturn. The lease, signed in 2015, is between the Northern Territory government and Landbridge Group, a Chinese company with ties to the Chinese Communist Party. Mr Robb has confirmed that he has left Landbridge for the time being because, "at this stage, Landbridge has no other projects relevant for me to assist". [14], Robb is a board member of the Kidman cattle enterprise and the Network Ten television station. Australia's warm relationship with China has developed frostbite in the five short years since the deal was signed. Foreign Minister Julie Bishop defended Mr Robb's decision, telling the ABC he should be allowed to have a post-Parliament career. Senior Lecturer, Business Law, Charles Darwin University. Charles Darwin University provides funding as a member of The Conversation AU. "Just before Landbridge had an opportunity to formally present my report to Chinese authorities, they were advised not to bother because the relationship between the Australian and Chinese governments 'had become so toxic' that the report would be binned.". Barnaby Joyce has called on former trade minister Andrew Robb to answer questions on his role with Landbridge - leasee of the Darwin port - as former top US intelligence chief James Clapper . This comes despite the fact they sold one of our most strategically positioned ports to a Chinese company with close links to the Chinese Communist Party in 2015. Former PM Rudd urges review of lease of Darwin Port to China company The Crikey comment section is members-only content. Charles Darwin University academic John Garrick has been researching China's international strategic actions, and said the Commonwealth Government doesn't really have a leg to stand on if they want to take the lease of the port back now. It ended with the city being decimated 77 short years ago. As the federal trade minister, Mr Robb did publicly support the Darwin Port deal, calling it a "powerful sign" of a commercial partnership between China and Australia through a free trade agreement he had helped establish. "That's what made it worse, a local government in the NT made such a silly decision that risked the freedom and strategic security of Australians over the next hundred years or when China democratises.". Andrew Robb did not tell prime minister about role with Chinese company Mr Robbs consultancy with the leaseholder of the Darwin Port, Landbridge, was trumpeted by the Chinese-government aligned company in 2016, but became intensely controversial when an investigation by The Age, The Sydney Morning Herald and Four Corners revealed his fee, and that he had joined the company straight after quitting parliament. Robb was still Federal Director and campaign manager in 1996 when John Howard after he replaced Downer as leader in 1995, won the 1996 federal election campaign, which defeated the Keating government and brought the Liberals to power after 13 years in Opposition. Robb argued that a formal citizenship test would be a clear incentive for aspiring citizens to have basic English language skills and understanding of their community. How Landbridge's purchase of the Darwin Port killed perceived wisdom on The statement also said deputy secretary Liu had met Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull and NT Chief Minister Adam Giles on April 14, 2016, and "proposed the co-operative model of Two Countries, Two Parks". RT @TwoEyeHead: Govt to spend $3.8billion beefing up far Northern military assets. This involves potential future actions by China as tensions flare up in the South China Sea and how Australia is positioned to respond as an American ally which had already been reprimanded by former United States president Barack Obama, who said he would have liked a heads up on the deal before it happened. The reason Darwin port was leased to the Chinese is because federal government at the time (LNP) refused to fund the ageing Darwin Port. And just last week, Landbridge (a private company, despite links to the Chinese Government) started official construction on a new $200 million luxury hotel on the Darwin waterfront. Now not so much. Andrew Robb says said "Canberra had every right to reassess the port lease in light of changing strategic circumstances. Robb only left his position at Landbridge in 2019, shortly before a new foreign-interference law took effect. Mr Brumby, Mr Carr and Mr Robb have previously insisted that the Chinese government has no tangible influence in the organisations they worked for, despite evidence the organisations founders were aligned with the Chinese Communist Party willingly, or because of the way the party-state controls seemingly private companies.
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