Centre Alliance: Labor a “China coward”

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Via Domain:

Labor senator Kimberley Kitching and Victorian Liberal MP Kevin Andrews intend to establish the Parliamentary Friends of Democratic Hong Kong group, calling for the protection of democracy in Hong Kong and promoting a peaceful end to the violence.

…Centre Alliance senator Rex Patrick on Monday criticised both the government and federal Labor’s refusal to to support a Senate inquiry on Australia’s relations with China as a “sad act of political cowardice”.

“Labor’s claimed commitment to bipartisanship looks a lot like a political party that’s running scared,” Senator Patrick said.

“In Labor’s view China is so sensitive an issue that it can only be discussed behind closed doors, and certainly not in earshot of the Australian public.”

Scared of losing their major sponsor, more like. 20 years of opposition ahead on this issue alone unless they clean up their act.

Meanwhile, more folks getting sucked in, also at Domain:

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An Australia-China association whose former executive chairman gave a written statement to the Independent Commission Against Corruption announced today it will stop all political donations.

The decision by The Australia China Trade, Economic and Cultural Association (ACETCA) comes as the ICAC continues to probe potential breaches of NSW donation laws at a 2015 Chinese Friends of Labor fundraising dinner.

The Herald revealed last month that ACETCA has donated close to $40,000 to state political parties since 2013, with most of the cash ($29,000) given to the Liberal Party through events attended by premiers, treasurers and MPs.

Looks like the ALP might go broke!

About the author
David Llewellyn-Smith is Chief Strategist at the MB Fund and MB Super. David is the founding publisher and editor of MacroBusiness and was the founding publisher and global economy editor of The Diplomat, the Asia Pacific’s leading geo-politics and economics portal. He is also a former gold trader and economic commentator at The Sydney Morning Herald, The Age, the ABC and Business Spectator. 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.