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

We'll get to that. Essential infrastructure like Darwin's port: how was the government not thinking strategically when it allowed China into this important northern gateway for 99 years? This port is the home of our local naval presence. Andrew Robb gave them the deal and then ended up on a salary of $880,000 immediately on leaving the parliament. Then we consider Mr Peter Dutton's recent comments, which were reported on 12 October this year:

One of the Morrison Government's most senior figures has taken a direct swipe at Beijing, accusing the Chinese Communist Party of behaving in ways that are "inconsistent" with Australian values.

That is significant for the third part of my contribution. Key points from Mr Dutton's comments were:

Mr Dutton said the Federal Government would call out state actors if it was in the national interest.

He said he wanted universities to be free from foreign interference—

this is a senior Liberal government minister—

The Home Affairs Minster also criticised China's Belt and Road Initiative and defended a ban on using Huawei to help build Australia's 5G network

The report continued:

… Minister Peter Dutton warned Australia would "call out" foreign interference in universities, as well as cyber hacks and theft of intellectual property … insisting it was the right thing to do.

He, a senior minister in an important portfolio, is concerned. The article continued:

It represents some of the strongest language yet from a Federal Government minister—

just a month and a half ago—

on the threat posed by China.

Mr Dutton was further quoted:

Our issue is not with the Chinese people—

I wholeheartedly concur—

not with the amazing Chinese diaspora community we have here in Australia, my issue is with the Communist Party of China and their policies to the extent that they're inconsistent with our own values," Mr Dutton said.

I endorse that. The Chinese people have a long history in our country. They helped us develop the north and, indeed, the south. They have contributed remarkably and they continue to contribute. But do we hear of similar incidents—anything like this number—about India? No. Japan? No. Singapore? No. Taiwan? No. Malaysia? No. Thailand? No. Cambodia? No. Laos? No.

Look at the government's gatekeepers of our country. The first is the Foreign Investment Review Board. We see the unhindered growth of Chinese assets in this country. China now owns 10 times the amount of Australian land that it did in September 2018—12 months, 10 times. They acquire the best of our assets, as Senator Patrick pointed out, for less, with little or no benefit back to the Australian people. As Senator Patrick said, they're picking the eyes out of the treasures—agricultural, mineral reserves, businesses, processing and assets in general. They're moving into secondary and manufacturing industry, as well as primary. The Foreign Investment Review Board, the gatekeeper, faced 11,855 investigations with a staff of one full-time executive and seven part-time people—4½ full-time equivalents, with one of them being an executive. Of the 11,855 investigations, five, or 0.04 per cent, were knocked back. How can these people possibly give full and proper consideration to each investigation? They cannot. It possibly needs to be renamed as the FISB, the 'foreign investment skimming board', or the FITB, the 'foreign investment tick and flick board'.

Now consider the dairy industry. China has taken our best farms and our best milk products. They now ship our milk and milk products to China, paying a low cost here and value-adding and taking the profits to China. A couple of weeks ago, Bellamy's, a large producer of infant formula, went into Chinese hands. Dairy farmers out the front here at Parliament House today told me that the Chinese are not competent in the dairy industry and are wrecking the industry.

Energy—think of the primacy of energy. I've discussed that many times. Energy is essential for competitiveness, for productivity, for wealth generation and for all aspects of our lives. I've talked about Kilcoy and the investment the Chinese look to be getting there in a massive solar industrial complex, which will end up with toxins in Brisbane's water supply, a removal of productive agricultural land, high energy prices—when we subsidise the Chinese investment!—and unsightly blight on the countryside. When the Japanese government bombed Darwin in 1942, John Curtin didn't send them a letter and a cheque saying, 'You need subsidies to protect your bombing.' But that's what we are doing with these Chinese who are investing in our solar and wind generation.

Clive Hamilton has repeatedly warned us of the insidious threat from China. Huawei was banned from 5G implementation in this and in other countries. Huawei announced just yesterday that its new strategic council is Xenophon Davis. We all know that Nick Xenophon is a former senator, and I have learnt that Mark Davis is a former ABC and SBS journalist.

Let's move to the third aspect. We've seen the huge potential—the strong relationship. We've also seen the recent increases in the intricacy. Now let's look at the incompatibility of Australian and Chinese government values. Chinese people are fine, but Australian values do not mesh with the Chinese government. Consider Australian citizen Yang Hengjun. I will read from an article in The Weekend Australian on 31 August 2019 that was written by Arthur Moses, a contributor, who is President of the Law Council of Australia. He said that Hengjun:

… has been held in harsh conditions without charge, with limited access to consular assistance. He has not been permitted to talk to his lawyers or see his family.

That goes against Australian values.

His lawyers do not know the particulars of the allegations against him—just dragged off and incarcerated. As a blogger he has written thousands of articles promoting the rule of law, democracy and human rights and has built up a large following in China. All of that is entirely appropriate for an Australian. Our country goes back to the Magna Carta, the Constitution and the presumption of innocence. Not in China.

Yang and detainees like him must be humanely treated in a fair, transparent manner. In his article, Arthur Moses further states:

… it is the rule of law that most strongly drives economic performance.

China does not have the rule of law; it has the rule of despots.

Another article, just yesterday, stated:

Australia says the treatment endured by one of its citizens in criminal detention in China is "unacceptable".

That is what our government is saying of an Australian citizen. The article continues:

Chinese-Australian writer Dr Yang Hengjun has been held in Beijing since January. He has been accused of espionage—charges denied by him and the Australian government.

He now faces daily interrogations while being shackled and has been increasingly isolated, Canberra said.

Imagine that in this country! The article stated further that on Monday 25 November, Foreign Minister Marise Payne, a senior member of this government's cabinet, said she was 'very concerned' about his condition, which was reported in a recent consulate visit. So the government, at the senior level—the home affairs minister and the foreign minister—knows about this. The article continues:

Australia has also repeatedly requested that he receive "basic standards of justice, procedural fairness and humane treatment" during his detention.

The government is aware of China's standards and its power. The article went on to say:

Australia's political class was rocked last week by allegations of Chinese espionage and interference in domestic issues. China has strongly dismissed the claims as "imaginary fears".

Chinese government behaviour is not compatible with Australian values, and yet it has influence over some—many, possibly—Chinese in this country and influence over political parties, companies and who knows what else.

Human rights is a huge issue where China and Australia have competing views—different views; incompatible views. Australia is a democracy and a signatory to many international agreements that preserve basic human rights. China, though, is a republic following a Communist regime that is very rigid, with little room to question the state and having limited rights for the individual. One only has to turn on the news and watch the demonstrations for freedom happening in Hong Kong to see how that goes down. Many Australians remember the events of Tiananmen Square that brought our Prime Minister at the time to tears. The detention of those whose views differ from that of the regime is a continuing disgrace and worthy of further review.

Let's come to the next part of this, the fourth section. The Liberals and Labor have sold out Australia's heritage; the government and Labor have sold out Australia's inheritance. No wonder they don't want us to have a review of this catastrophe. What the Liberal-Labor-Greens triopoly has not sold out it has destroyed. We have bankers in charge, but a code of practice that is solid and truthful; it has integrity. We have the failure to implement the Hayne royal commission recommendations with integrity. According to the government, in the near future we'll have the imposition of a cash ban bill, if it gets through the Senate. That's not reinforcing integrity. We have the Glass-Steagall bill that's being avoided; that would eliminate vertical integration to ensure integrity.

The government is not ensuring integrity, it is running away from integrity. We had the theft of property rights from 1996 onwards by both the Liberals and Labor, destroying productive capacity and the heart and soul of our rural sector. That is not integrity. It was led at the time by the Prime Minister, John Howard, who went around the Constitution to prevent farmers getting the compensation which they were rightly entitled to under the Constitution. We ask for restoration of compensation. I'll be doing that every time until they get it.

Our productive capacity with water is being destroyed. We had thousands of farmers out the front yesterday and this morning, begging for action to fix that and to restore productive capacity. As I said a little while ago, our energy is being destroyed—our productive capacity. We are going from the lowest prices for electricity in the world to the highest. Meanwhile, we're exporting our key resource—the No. 1 export income earner for Australia—to China so they can generate cheap electricity and steal our jobs. Then we have the Defence department running roughshod over productive farmers by neglecting them, even after their own committee recommended buying back businesses affected by PFAS contamination. We're doing this within our own country, led by the Liberal-Labor governments of the last 20 years. And, at the same time, Liberal and Labor governments are refusing to investigate or to inquire into our relationship with China.

These actions by China would appear to threaten the relationship of mutual respect between the two countries, and are worthy of inquiry. The actions of China threaten our honesty, fairness and humanity. One Nation supports the call for such an inquiry into a nation exerting powerful influences over our nation, with potentially far more powerful influences in our nation's future. For the people of Australia, we support Senator Patrick's motion.