Labor’s Chinese chickens come home to roost

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I have been warning Labor about this for years and now it is here:

We now see evidence, Mr Speaker, that the Chinese Communist party, the Chinese government, has also made a decision about who they’re going to back in the next federal election, Mr Speaker, and that is open and that is obvious, and they have picked this bloke as that candidate,” Dutton said.

This was by no means an accidental line. Morrison used similar but vaguer language when stating “those who are seeking to coerce Australia” knew that “their candidate” in the election was “the leader of the Labor party”. The implication of these carefully crafted statements was clear – Labor would go soft on China and had Beijing’s backing.

…When Labor’s parliamentary tactician, Tony Burke, rose to complain that Dutton was alluding to treason or sedition on the part of the opposition leader, the minister tried to claim he wasn’t actually tarring Albanese. Dutton stated he was reflecting only “on the actions of the Chinese government” even if that “might be uncomfortable for those opposite”.

And then Dutton dropped the head of Asio, Mike Burgess, into the domestic political fray. “Mine was a reflection on what has been publicly reported and commented on by the director general of Asio and … there are media reports today in relation to these serious matters,” he said.

Labor has only itself to blame. Sure, of late, Albo has done his best to silence his China lackies and he has supported all of the turn towards confronting Chinese aggression. But they are still there. Before the last 6-12 months the China kowtowers were still in control of Labor policy.

How else does one explain Labor’s failure to support the Government and condemn China during its issuance of the dastardly 14 conditions to end democracy?

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Even a few months ago, Penny Wong was spouting undergraduate drivel about multilateralism that sounded a lot like a Beijing press release. This is not at all to suggest that she is compromised. Only that Labor has completely missed the boat on the swing against Chinese manipulation of traditional diplomatic mechanisms.

Here is what ASIO said yesterday:

The case involved a “wealthy individual with direct and deep connections with a foreign government and its intelligence agencies”. “This agent of interference has roots in Australia but did the bidding of offshore masters, knowingly and covertly seeking to advance the interests of the foreign power and, in the process, undermine Australia’s sovereignty.

“I’ll call this person ‘the puppeteer’, although it’s important to ­remember that while the puppeteer pulled the strings, the foreign government called the shots.”

The “puppeteer” provided hundreds of thousands of dollars through an offshore bank account to run foreign-interference operations through a third party with ­direct links to politicians, political staff and journalists. The third party identified candidates believed to be vulnerable to inducements and cultivation.

The plan sought to promote the candidates’ political prospects through financial support, positive media coverage and hiring staff.

“The aim was not just to get the candidates into positions of power, but also to generate a sense of ­appreciation, obligation and ­indebtedness that could ­subsequently be exploited,” Mr Burgess said.

“The political candidates had no knowledge of the plot. Even if the plan had proceeded, they would not have known who was pulling the strings. The puppeteer used the employee as a cut-out.

“This deliberate deceit and ­secrecy about the foreign-­government connection is what took the case into the realm of foreign interference. Our intervention ensured the plan was not executed, and harm was avoided.”

Mr Burgess last year warned that by the mid-2020s, espionage and foreign interference were ­expected to have overtaken terrorism as ASIO’s principal security concern, but that had been realised earlier than anticipated.

“In terms of scale and sophistication, though, espionage and foreign interference threats are outpacing terrorism threats, and therefore demanding more attention and more resources,” he said.

“The threat is pervasive, multifaceted and, if unchecked, could do serious damage to our sovereignty, values and national interest.”

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We all know when nobody is mentioned that means China. Would China target the ALP over LNP? Yes:

…multiple security sources, who are not authorised to speak publicly, have confirmed to The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age that a Chinese intelligence service was behind the plot and that it involved NSW Labor.

Why? Because it has deeper sympathies but perhaps also because it is favourite to win.

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Moreover, the only operating China stooge that we know of is Gladys Liu on the LNP side. She has already been dispensing donor dough for influence in the federal parliament. There are good reasons to think that China would target both sides with their cash. They’re all whores thanks to our broken donations system.

So, where does that leave us?

Labor has swung about on China but it has not got enough runs on the hawkish board to be thought of as trustworthy and these attacks will bite. That said, the institutional inertia of Cold War 2.0 means that Labor kowtowers are quite limited in any harm that they can do and the party will be forced further from Chinese engagement over time. Being circumspect about growing hostilities is not all bad, either.

So, Labor is more vulnerable politically than in actuality but that’s not much comfort for it as an election looms.

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Not that it’s going to matter. Compared with Morrison’s mess, Labor looks positively glowing for the national interest.

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.