❓ Mr. Love questions the Premier about reported comments regarding a national cabinet meeting in China and related consultations. The Premier denies the report, defends his comments about strengthening economic ties with China, and criticises those advocating a hostile relationship.
AnsweredQoN 252Legislative Assembly
QuestionView source ↗
CHINA — PREMIER'S VISIT
252. Mr R.S. LOVE to the Premier:
I
refer to reports by The West Australian of 20 April that the Premier
called for the national cabinet to be held in China.
(1) What conversations —
Several members interjected.
The SPEAKER : Order, please!
Mr
R.S. LOVE : — with the
Premier's federal colleagues, including the Minister for Foreign Affairs,
Penny Wong , did he have before making such an announcement?
(2) What
conversations did the Premier have with Australian national security advisers
about holding such a meeting in China, and what was their advice with respect
to security and surveillance?
The SPEAKER : Premier, just
before you start, can I advise other members that the Premier is answering the
question, not them.
252. Mr R.S. LOVE to the Premier:
I
refer to reports by The West Australian of 20 April that the Premier
called for the national cabinet to be held in China.
(1) What conversations —
Several members interjected.
The SPEAKER : Order, please!
Mr
R.S. LOVE : — with the
Premier's federal colleagues, including the Minister for Foreign Affairs,
Penny Wong , did he have before making such an announcement?
(2) What
conversations did the Premier have with Australian national security advisers
about holding such a meeting in China, and what was their advice with respect
to security and surveillance?
The SPEAKER : Premier, just
before you start, can I advise other members that the Premier is answering the
question, not them.
AnswerView source ↗
I am pleased the member asked me
that question. It allows me to answer it very fully.
(1)–(2) When I was in China, as part of the first visit by
the Western Australian government in four years, I met with a range of people
and I did a range of media interviews. In one of the media interviews, I indicated
to the media that I thought one of the things that the Prime Minister could do
would be to visit our largest trading partner, which is responsible for
hundreds of thousands of Western Australian jobs and many more Australian jobs.
When the Prime Minister visits, he could take a delegation with him, comprising
Premiers, Chief Ministers and, if he wanted to, businesspeople and the like.
That was the same arrangement that Tony Abbott did in 2014 when he went to
China. That was the same arrangement that Malcolm Turnbull had in 2018 when he
went to Washington. I said it would be a good way of expanding and enhancing
economic opportunities, because Premiers
and Chief Ministers, by our nature, have more contact with businesses,
airlines, mining companies, tourism operators, student operators and so forth
than perhaps the commonwealth government does.
That
is what I said. I never at any point suggested that there would be a meeting of
the national cabinet in China. I was misreported, and I explained that publicly
a number of times. That is what occurred. If the member reads the actual
comments in the media stories of what I said, he will find no reference to a meeting
of the national cabinet in China because there was none; I did not say it. If
Tony Abbott can take a group of Premiers, including Premier Barnett, to China
when he went there, why is it inappropriate for Prime Minister Albanese to do
the same? That is what occurred, so the whole premise of the member's
question is incorrect.
To the broader point of the
relationship with China and whether we have a hostile relationship with China,
some elements nationally, particularly some elements in the Liberal Party, seem
to think it is a good idea, but I disagree with them. We spent 50 years
building a better relationship. Premier Barnett used to sit here and I agreed
with him that we should have a friendly and mutually productive relationship
with our biggest trading partner, which buys 20 times the products from us that
it sells to us—20 times the value. We should actually have a good relationship
with it. I do not know; maybe I am unusual, but I think that having a reasonable and sensible relationship with
a nuclear-armed superpower is a good idea, particularly when it is in
our region and particularly when it is our biggest trading partner!
There are elements of national
politics, in particular in the hard right of the Liberal Party, which seems to
run it these days, and some elements of the media establishment in the east
that seem to think that having a relationship in which we discuss going to war
with China is wise. I disagree with that.
that question. It allows me to answer it very fully.
(1)–(2) When I was in China, as part of the first visit by
the Western Australian government in four years, I met with a range of people
and I did a range of media interviews. In one of the media interviews, I indicated
to the media that I thought one of the things that the Prime Minister could do
would be to visit our largest trading partner, which is responsible for
hundreds of thousands of Western Australian jobs and many more Australian jobs.
When the Prime Minister visits, he could take a delegation with him, comprising
Premiers, Chief Ministers and, if he wanted to, businesspeople and the like.
That was the same arrangement that Tony Abbott did in 2014 when he went to
China. That was the same arrangement that Malcolm Turnbull had in 2018 when he
went to Washington. I said it would be a good way of expanding and enhancing
economic opportunities, because Premiers
and Chief Ministers, by our nature, have more contact with businesses,
airlines, mining companies, tourism operators, student operators and so forth
than perhaps the commonwealth government does.
That
is what I said. I never at any point suggested that there would be a meeting of
the national cabinet in China. I was misreported, and I explained that publicly
a number of times. That is what occurred. If the member reads the actual
comments in the media stories of what I said, he will find no reference to a meeting
of the national cabinet in China because there was none; I did not say it. If
Tony Abbott can take a group of Premiers, including Premier Barnett, to China
when he went there, why is it inappropriate for Prime Minister Albanese to do
the same? That is what occurred, so the whole premise of the member's
question is incorrect.
To the broader point of the
relationship with China and whether we have a hostile relationship with China,
some elements nationally, particularly some elements in the Liberal Party, seem
to think it is a good idea, but I disagree with them. We spent 50 years
building a better relationship. Premier Barnett used to sit here and I agreed
with him that we should have a friendly and mutually productive relationship
with our biggest trading partner, which buys 20 times the products from us that
it sells to us—20 times the value. We should actually have a good relationship
with it. I do not know; maybe I am unusual, but I think that having a reasonable and sensible relationship with
a nuclear-armed superpower is a good idea, particularly when it is in
our region and particularly when it is our biggest trading partner!
There are elements of national
politics, in particular in the hard right of the Liberal Party, which seems to
run it these days, and some elements of the media establishment in the east
that seem to think that having a relationship in which we discuss going to war
with China is wise. I disagree with that.
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