FEDERAL Senator Jacqui Lambie has publicly questioned whether Andrews government MPs “personally” benefitted from secret Belt & Road negotiations with the Chinese Communist Party.
In a scathing interview on Sky News’ First Edition yesterday Ms Lambie said the Victorian Labor government was “off its head” and “absolutely nuts”. She said full details of Mr Andrews deal were still to be learned.
- Andrews continues to hide the detail of his China deal, even after it was torn up by the PM.
- Victorian government's close ties with communist China is not in national interest.
- Senator questions if anyone benefitted 'personally' from Andrews' China negotiations.
“We’re still not 100 per cent sure whether they got anything out of it personally, behind closed doors – or what went on there,” Ms Lambie said.
“Thinking they can make decisions at a State or territory level when it comes to foreign policy and our national security is absolutely nuts,” she said.
“It’s never going to happen and it should never have happened.”
VERY SLY
Ms Lambie said national interests always outranked State interests.
“I think the Chinese were very sly in the way that they did it,” she said. “But I’m very surprised the Victorian government fell into it.”
“They might be good at doing the vaccine roll-out… but seriously, when it comes to foreign policy and national security I would suggest they take a step back and let the federal government do its job.”
Ms Lambie said she was unconcerned about any Chinese government blow-back after Victoria’s Belt & Road Initiative was torn up by the Morrison government this week.
“You know, it’s all bark and very little bite when it comes to China. Most of us are just rolling our eyes and getting on with the daily grind down here in Australia.
“We thought it would have this massive impact on our [export] markets, but people are smart enough to find other countries they can sell to.
“I’d suggest they keep doing this because God only knows where this is going to end up.”
SCRAPPED
She said “rolling over like a dog to China is never going to be in the interest of this country”.
“We’ve always stood up for what we believe and we need to continue to do that because that’s the Australian way.”
The China deals were scrapped by the federal government his week after Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews failed to mount any sort of defence.
According to The Australian newspaper, Victoria has continued to refuse to release the text of its agreements with China.
Despite this, it was given an opportunity to argue the merits of its deals, but couldn’t convince the federal government that national security hadn’t been undermined.
The Andrews government has repeatedly refused to confirm whether security or risk assessments were undertaken prior to the deals being struck.
Andrews’ decision to deal with Beijing can, according to The Australian, be explained by his longstanding and close relations with the communist regime.
For a progressive Labor leader, Andrews had spent years flirting with Beijing. In opposition, he toured the Great Wall and other sites.
Then as premier, his State inked the BRI deal while at the same time accusing the federal government of “vilifying” China overt its handling of COVID-19.
Victorian Treasurer Tim Pallas even called PM Scott Morrison “dangerous, damaging and probably irresponsible”.PC
I think Daniel son was doing “the crane” at the top of the stairs when he slipped….. He’s hiding from what’s coming.
Andrews didn’t fall into it.. He knew exactly what he was doing.
The Andrew Government more worried about their back pocket then worrying about the people, China gives with one hand and takes triple with the other