Malcolm Roberts (Queensland, Pauline Hanson's One Nation Party) Share this | Hansard source

As a servant to the people of Queensland and Australia, I would like to say that One Nation is supportive of the motion that Australia's relations with the People's Republic of China be referred to the Foreign Affairs, Defence and Trade References Committee for inquiry and preparation of a report into the Liberal-Labor club. I want to commend Senator Rex Patrick. This is his fifth attempt—I thought it was his fourth, but it is his fifth attempt. He must be seeing visions of Groundhog Day. Nonetheless, let's proceed. I want to set the context.

It is imperative that Australia and China maintain a mutually respectful and beneficial bilateral relationship. That requires respect from both parties in any relationship. China is Australia's largest two-way trading partner, export market and import source, representing 24 per cent of total trade with a value of $183 billion. That alone shows influence. Australia is China's sixth-largest trading partner and fifth-biggest supplier of imports. Twenty five per cent of Australia's manufactured imports come from China and 13 per cent of Australia's exports include thermal coal to China. A free-trade agreement was signed between the two countries in June 2015.

In more recent times China has embarked on the One Belt, One Road initiative. This is a Chinese economic and strategic agenda where Eurasia, Africa and Oceania are more closely tied along two routes—one land and one maritime. Those who support the initiative say it facilitates the development of infrastructure and economic aid to needy economies. On the other hand, it can be said to facilitate Chinese economic and strategic domination of smaller countries on the routes. It's about strategic control—and the emphasis is on 'control'. For Australia, we see growing Chinese involvement in projects from northern Australia to Tasmania, all providing little benefit to Australia but substantial benefits to China. Other examples of Chinese involvement have been in the funding and support of local academic conferences and seminars—the influence peddlers.

One of the ongoing issues of mutual concern relates to regional and global security. The growing tensions between the United States of America and the People's Republic of China in terms of the imposition of trade tariffs is placing Australia in a challenging position given the importance of Australia's relationships with both these countries. Similarly, the views taken on China's growing military influence in the South China Sea remain of concern to the United States of America and, necessarily, Australia as an established ally of the United States. Regionally, China is having a growing influence by funding infrastructure projects for some of the Pacific island countries and Papua New Guinea. This runs the risk of changing the dynamic between Australia and our near neighbours.

Australia is a destination of choice for many Chinese students to further their education in an Australian academic institution. In 2018 there were more than 166,000 enrolments of Chinese students in Australia, representing 43.3 per cent of the total international student cohort. A concern noted in some Australian universities is the potential dependence on full-fee-paying international students of the overall money pool available to university budgets. The concern is that, should those numbers suddenly diminish, it may leave some of the universities destitute.

The unfettered Chinese development of five research bases within the Australian Antarctic Territory is of growing concern to many, at a time when Australian investment into its three bases in that territory has been considered relatively conservative by comparison. Given the potential for military and strategic use of these bases by China and resource extraction at some future time, there is need to consider this factor when examining our relationships with China.

Australia is a favourite destination for Chinese tourists. This is shown by recent numbers. More than 1.3 million Chinese tourists visited Australia last year, representing 15 per cent of total visitors. This is a clear positive for Australia. At the same time there is a growing boom of tourists heading for China, which is welcoming tourists from around the world, including 700,000 from Australia.

So we have a complex and strong relationship, but with potential for being derailed and hurting our country. Consider some of these recent developments. The Liberal Party's Andrew Hastie wants an inquiry into the relationship. He speaks out against China's violations. He was recently banned from visiting that country—just for speaking out. From memory Senator Kimberley Kitching, from the Labor Party, co-sponsored one of Senator Patrick's motions, yet we see the New South Wales Labor Party immersed in ICAC revelations. And we remember that former Senator Sam Dastyari's bills were being paid by the Chinese.

There are questions over the Liberal Party's interactions with Chinese influencers. There is the Gladys Liu affair with its sloppy answers and repeated memory failures. She is honorary chairman of an institution of which she doesn't know the daily operations. There are contradictions, or at least serious questions, about facts. Bo 'Nick' Zhao was found dead in a Melbourne motel soon after claiming publicly that the Chinese government had approached him to stand as a candidate to be their man in this building. Are there others? Is Chinese Gladys Liu their person?