Anthony Byrne (Holt, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

That's an interesting act to follow! Tonight I want to make some remarks regarding Australia's relationship with the government of the People's Republic of China. I would start my address by noting the words of President Xi Jinping, President of the People's Republic of China, when he addressed our nation's parliament on 17 November 2014. He said:

Ladies and gentlemen, dear friends, while China and Australia are oceans apart, friendly contacts between our two countries have a long history. Starting from the early 19th century, many Chinese began to arrive in Australia by ship. They gradually integrated themselves into the local community and they made an important contribution to Australia's development—

which they did.

In the first half of the 20th century, Chinese and Australians fought together in two world wars and jointly upheld world peace and human justice. In 1972, China and Australia entered into diplomatic ties, which opened a new chapter of friendship and cooperation in the relations between our two countries.

This was in November 2014. I was actually there, and I'm sure you were too, Deputy Speaker. He went on further to say:

Our national legislatures maintain regular exchanges, which serve as an important platform for exchanging views and experiences of governance.

President Xi also stated:

As an old Chinese saying goes, the ocean is vast because it admits numerous rivers. It is the steady streams of mutual understanding and friendship between our two peoples that have created the vast ocean of goodwill between China and Australia. I am greatly heartened by the immense support for China-Australia relations in both countries.

Those encouraging words were made six years ago. They spoke of a relationship that was deep and growing, a relationship built on trust and mutual benefit, a relationship that would have been—could have been—enduring and strong.

Let's talk briefly about Australia. Australia is one of the most multicultural countries in the world. We have a rich history of Chinese migration to Australia, of which you would know, Deputy Speaker, from the time when you were immigration minister. According to the Chinese Museum in Melbourne, the first Chinese person to migrate to Australia did so in 1818. Many more Chinese began coming to the Australian colonies in large numbers during the 1850s Victorian gold rushes. Chinese Australians serves as Anzacs during World War I. Chinese and Australian soldiers served side by side during World War II. And, as has been widely noted, Australia, in 1972, was one of the first nations to establish diplomatic relations with China.

As an example of our trade relations, Australia has a growing diplomatic network in China that includes the embassy in Beijing and consulates in Shanghai, Guangzhou, Chengdu, Shenyang and Hong Kong. There are also 11 Austrade offices across greater China assisting Australia businesses to enter markets and to promote Australia as an investment, tourism and education destination. Most Australian state governments are represented in China's leading commercial centres. Australia and China share about 100 sister city, state and province relationships. Moreover, according to DFAT, in 2018-19—obviously, pre-COVID—there were over 1.4 million visits to Australia by Chinese nationals, which contributed not only to the Australian economy but also to increased understanding about Australia in China.

Australians, I would say, have admired the fact that nearly 800 million Chinese people have been lifted out of poverty to join what is called the global middle class, because it provides enormous opportunities for both nations. We have noted the establishment of the Zhongguancun centre in Beijing, which is home to 10 science parks from which have sprung a lot of innovation companies like Lenovo, Baidu and a hundred other high-tech giants. This is an intellectual hub, home to three university campuses: Tsinghua, Peking and the people's university, Renmin. However, as two mature countries, one a great power and one a middle power, which we are, together we must acknowledge the challenges in our relationship. How do we discuss the list of what is interestingly called the 14 grievances, which was given to our free press? How can we possibly accept an outrageous tweet by a diplomat of the Chinese Communist Party that disparages our service men and women? How do we ignore disruptions to the supply of an ever-growing list of goods that we export to China: wine, barley, beef, lobsters et cetera.

I note that it is said by those who seek to find division in this relationship that we imposed our foreign interference laws to arbitrarily punish China. That falsehood cannot stand. From a Labor perspective, I would say that I, as deputy chair of the Parliamentary Joint Committee on Intelligence and Security in 2018, played a fairly significant role in the passage of this legislation. These laws were prepared to offer us protection from threats by any nation or party that threatened our national security and our national sovereignty. Those in the Chinese Communist Party would know that we are a sovereign nation like China and that we have a right to protect our interests. A national act of self-protection is not an attack on any particular country; it is us taking what actions are necessary to defend our democracy.

There are a number of other what one would call interesting discussion points that are made in these 14 grievances, relating to banning Huawei technology, ZTE from the 5G network, and what are called unfounded national security concerns. But the key issue is this: we have been an important, reliable, dependable and trustworthy trading partner with China—and we continue to be so. It is not we, as in Australia, that have sought to create division in this relationship. I think what I would say to those that are listening to this is, as I said: Australia has a right to defend its national sovereignty. It has a right to embark upon, as the Chinese government does, legislation and measures that protect its nation from foreign interference, foreign espionage, cyber intrusions and anything like that—an attack on our national integrity and our structures, if you want to use that term. Making that an excuse to damage the relationship between our two countries is a falsehood.

But the key point to make to those that are listening is that this parliament, this united parliament, will continue to pass laws that protect Australia's national sovereignty. Those that might be on the outside commentating about what we will do and what we must do to protect our national sovereignty are false prophets. They should not be listened to. If people are watching and trying to predict what Australia will do in terms of its national posture on foreign relations, on national security, they should pay attention to what happens here in this place. The bipartisanship that continues to exist on national security, on foreign relations, on our place in the world, and our future together.

So I say to those that might be listening from that great neighbour up north: we will continue to protect our national sovereignty. That is an unambiguous point. That's not for debate. But we do offer, obviously, a continuing effort to offer our trades, goods and services. To conflate one issue of protecting our nation with trade is false. What I see is China damaging itself. I think that nation 10 years ago had great goodwill amongst the world's people, amongst the G20. Its treatment of Australia is being watched very carefully. Its mistreatment of Australia is building and contributing to alliances against China in the world. I would urge those within the government to cease this. There is an opportunity here for people of goodwill to pull back and to think about what they want to do next. You know where we stand. The ball is in your court.