Recall Madeleine King. Labor’s Shadow Minister for Trade and China apologist:
Opposition trade spokeswoman Madeleine King has targeted high-profile Liberal MP Andrew Hastie, labelling him a political ideologue who is hijacking the debate about Australia’s relationship with China.
But Mr Hastie responded saying she was muddled and asleep at the wheel when it came to Beijing.
Last week Mr Hastie, who is the chairman of Parliament’s intelligence and security committee, called for “push back” against the activities of China in Australia as the coronavirus pandemic exposed the economic costs of “relying too heavily on an authoritarian regime”.
Ms King said the economic relationship with China benefits people in both nations.
She criticised a petition Mr Hastie released on his website calling for people to “take action on Australian sovereignty”.
“If, as Andrew Hastie suggests, Australia should reduce its economic ties with China, I look forward to Andrew explaining his strategy for the future of the Australian economy to the tens of thousands more Australians that will be out of a job should our exports of iron ore, coal, and gas to China be significantly diminished,” Ms King said.
And this, King wrote in the AFR:
A detailed analysis conducted by the reputable Global Trade Alert concludes that widespread concern of a global dependence on a tiny number of exporters of medical personal protective equipment (PPE) is misplaced as there is little evidence for any nation having a stranglehold of the supply of PPE.
…Last year, the Australian government dipped its toes in murky water with Prime Minister Scott Morrison ordering an audit of Australia’s role in international organisations as part of a speech in which he railed against the threat of “negative globalism”.
But as bureaucrats have toiled on the audit, the coronavirus has spread rapidly across the globe, rendering the need for Australia’s involvement in strong global architecture and international alliances even more acute.
Now the Prime Minister speaks of strengthening our “economic sovereignty” as he pushes for a boost in domestic production of some manufactured goods including medical equipment and pharmaceuticals.
…A shortage of respirators, ventilators and other equipment in Australia or elsewhere does not signal a failure of globalisation. It’s a failure by governments to plan adequately for a pandemic emergency.
…Open trade will be an integral component of our economic recovery.
…But while Australia is sometimes pejoratively referred to as Asia’s quarry, our world-leading resources sector is a highly productive model of efficiency that the nation simply cannot do without if we are to recover from the economic ramifications of COVID-19.
Our greatest strength remains the extraordinary resources sector, which continues to meet production targets in the face of the COVID-19 disruption and is on track to export commodities this year worth an astonishing $300 billion.
So it is important to remember that the resources sector and a boosted advanced manufacturing sector will depend on an open global trading system.
Apparently not, anymore, at The Australian today:
Hawke and Howard showed that our most important trade and investment relationships do not occur by accident. It takes years of sustained effort and political leadership. Today, as the most China-dependent major economy in the world, apart from Hong Kong, we are faced with the striking need for trade diversification.
…Chinese demand for our commodities is forecast to plateau in coming decades and for some China-exposed sectors, including our meat exporters, winemakers and barley growers, it has become painfully apparent China is willing to limit imports from us for reasons that can be unclear.
We are overly reliant on four exports: resources, agriculture, tourism and education.
A recent Harvard Growth Lab Atlas of Economic Complexity ranked Australia 93rd in the world for the “complexity” of its exports, lagging Kazakhstan, Uganda and Senegal. It should not be like this — Australia should be in the midst of a job-making national effort to increase export complexity.
There is much said about establishing a lithium battery industry but little action. Where is the government effort to attract investment from the battery-producing powerhouses of Japan and South Korea to build Australia’s capacity beyond basic processing of lithium, nickel and rare earths?
It’s also time we finally got serious about building stronger economic relationships with India and the nations of Southeast Asia, particularly Indonesia and Vietnam.
…This government seems to believe that it’s the responsibility of Australian companies to open up new markets. But it is evident from our history that little will happen unless the commonwealth takes the lead. Political will is a prerequisite for trade prosperity.
I wonder if she’ll be let back into WA? More seriously, it is encouraging to see this late conversion to Chinese skepticism in the shadow trade portfolio. That is a central pillar in any turn of Labor from its politically suicidal path of structural CCP groveling.
But it is only one opinion piece. And, by my reckoning, now makes up a full two China skeptics in the entire party (one of which is not very convincing, the other being the excellent Kimberly Kitching).
There is a VERY, VERY long way to go before Australians can trust Labor with government pertaining to China.
Still, a journey of a thousand miles and all of that…
