This suggests Chinese authorities regard Darwin as having strategic significance. Rather than sell outright, the territory government decided to lease the port, and sell a controlling stake in the ports operator. Keep up with the latest ASX and business news, MasterChef judge Jock Zonfrillo dies at age of 46. Police investigating gangland shooting allegedly uncover separate murder plot, Pioneering Australian musician and The Dingoes frontman Broderick Smith dies aged 75, 'I don't buy that one bit': Next AFL CEO denies claims of a boys' club after promotion from general counsel, How Heather Mitchell survived a 'testosterone, cocaine and alcohol-fuelled' workplace, Hundreds of 'completely underfunded' Coalition-era infrastructure projects on the chopping block, The public will be asked to pledge allegiance to King Charles III. Read more: The Chinese company that upset the defence establishment by buying the Port of Darwin is looking for oil and gas acquisitions in Northern Australia to boost trade through the commercial port. He was a member of the House of Representatives from 2004 to 2016, representing the Liberal Party. Former trade minister Liberal MP Andrew Robb accepted an $880,000-a-year salary with Chinese billionaire Ye Chengs Landbridge Group immediately after quitting parliament. There are certain things that have been thousands of years in the making with regard to China, such as saving face.. Billionaire Ye Cheng is the owner of Landbridge, which controversially acquired the 99-year lease for the Port of Darwin in 2015. The statement also said deputy secretary Liu had met Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull and NT Chief Minister Adam Giles on April 14, 2016, and "proposed the co-operative model of Two Countries, Two Parks". Good sources are critical to good journalism. The operator of Darwin Port is struggling to pay down debt and is reliant on a letter of support from its Chinese owner. At these challenging times, we need to work hard to reverse the souring of our political relationship. [19][20] Landbridge Group is chaired by Ye Cheng, a billionaire with links to the Chinese Communist Party. At the time the new owner, billionaire Ye Cheng, claimed the Darwin port deal was our involvement in One Belt, One Road. I've known him for a very long time. Ms McKenzie was chief of staff to Andrew Robb when he was the Liberal government's trade, investment and tourism minister. Were working to restore it. Port in a storm: the Darwin lease made sense only a few years ago. Mr Robb has been approached for comment on his new role, but the former minister, who is currently overseas, has not yet responded to the ABC. "Andrew has said he's aware of the ministerial code of conduct and he'll abide by it," she said. You can submit your questions on any topic at all, or vote on our next investigation. Kishor is a federal politics reporter for Crikey, based in the Canberra press gallery. The deal to lease parts of the port followed successive federal governments refusing to fund necessary upgrading of the ports infrastructure to meet growing demand. Why don't more Australians know about the bombing of Darwin? Peter Dutton says circumstances were different in 2015. "It involves the use of soft-power networks, influence over politicians on all sorts of levels, from local levels right up to the top.". Mr Robb continues to advocate for Australia to back the policy although has previously insisted this is unconnected to his Landbridge consultancy. Here's what they think of a Voice to Parliament, Soccer spectator accused of punching out teeth of referee in 'outrageous attack' refused bail, How Australia was left with only one deployable submarine, The Landbridge Group was awarded a 99-year lease, ADF official raises red flag over Darwin port deal, Police investigating gangland shooting allegedly uncover separate murder plot, Pioneering Australian musician and The Dingoes frontman Broderick Smith dies aged 75, 'I don't buy that one bit': Next AFL CEO denies claims of a boys' club after promotion from general counsel, How Heather Mitchell survived a 'testosterone, cocaine and alcohol-fuelled' workplace, Hundreds of 'completely underfunded' Coalition-era infrastructure projects on the chopping block, The public will be asked to pledge allegiance to King Charles III. Soft power goes hard: China's economic interest in the Pacific comes with strings attached. From left, now Treasurer Josh Frydenberg, Landbridge chief Ye Cheng and then trade minister Andrew Robb at a northern development conference in 2015. Credit: Glenn Campbell. As a small, open economy international trade and foreign investment has been critical to providing jobs and prosperity by Australians since European settlement over 200 years ago. Here's what they think of a Voice to Parliament, Soccer spectator accused of punching out teeth of referee in 'outrageous attack' refused bail, How Australia was left with only one deployable submarine, The late 2015 deal with Landbridge shocked the country and led to the most-asked question in the Curious series history, about why the NT decided to lease the port to a foreign company and how they got away with it, You can submit your questions on any topic at all, or vote on our next investigation, former United States president Barack Obama, who said he would have liked a heads up on the deal before it happened, Landbridge (a private company, despite links to the Chinese Government) started official construction on a new $200 million luxury hotel on the Darwin waterfront, Former federal trade minister Andrew Robb took an annual $880,000 job with Landbridge, about a "toxic" relationship between Australia and China that he blamed on former prime minister Malcolm Turnbull and Australia's intelligence agencies, Everybody in the NT remembers the last time Darwin was caught in the middle of a conflict between the Americans and a rising Asian empire. "I encourage you to explore the Australia Park in China where partnerships and collaboration between these two great nations will flourish for years to come," the statement in Mr Robb's name said. Many Curious Darwin readers asked how Mr Robb was involved in the port deal. But the director of the Australian Strategic Policy Institute, Peter Jennings, said the port deal might benefit Beijing's long-term strategic interests, and not necessarily those of Australia. Mr Katter's opposition to the Port of Darwin sale - Opportunities exist across website, brand awareness, podcasts, social media content, and video campaigns. For all not investors not just Chinese. Robb then left politics and took up a lucrative consultancy gig with Landbridge less than 12 months later, making who knows how much from helping actual jeopardise our national security. All levels of Australian government have encouraged it. In 2004, he was comfortably elected to the safe Liberal seat of Goldstein in Melbourne and was appointed Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for Immigration and Multicultural Affairs on 27 January 2006. Mr Robb's consultancy with the leaseholder of the Darwin Port, Landbridge, was trumpeted by the Chinese-government aligned company in 2016, but became intensely controversial when an . In this capacity Robb worked with the next Leader of the Liberal Party, John Hewson, in the unsuccessful 1993 federal election campaign. Mr Ye is the owner of Landbridge, which controversially acquired the 99-year lease for the Port of Darwin in . According to an official Chinese government statement, the park is designed to capitalise on the China Australia Free Trade Agreement as well as Mr Ye's purchase of the Darwin port. Were sorry, this feature is currently unavailable. You have entered an incorrect email address! A Critical Infrastructure Centre has been created to give extra national security advice. Follow our live coverage. Senior Lecturer, Business Law, Charles Darwin University. At the time, Mr Robb had already been working for Mr Ye for eight weeks, and had earned $146,000, including GST but minus expenses. As soon as he left politics, Robb was hired by Shandong Landbridge on a $880,000 per year salary. In April 2016, less than three months before his consultancy agreement began, Mr Robb visited China with an Australian delegation in his capacity as Australia's trade envoy. Landbridge Australia, a subsidiary of Shandong Landbridge, won the 99-year lease with its bid of A$506 million in November 2015. Mr Robb joins former foreignminister Bob Carr and former Victorian premier John Brumby in leaving lucrative roles with companies or, in Mr Carrs case, a think tank, founded by businessmen with strong ties to the Chinese Communist Party. The late 2015 deal with Landbridge shocked the country and led to the most-asked question in the Curious series history, about why the NT decided to lease the port to a foreign company and how they got away with it. Can the Darwin Port's 99-year lease to China be reversed? Following the Liberal Party's defeat at the 2007 federal election, Robb put himself forward as a candidate for Deputy Leader of the Liberal Party. Many of these grants were disproportionally awarded to marginal seats, with limited oversight and even less accountability. The port's acquisition sparked a major controversy after then US president Barack Obama complained he hadn't been forewarned. This website is dedicated to the public interest. Late last year, the ForeignInfluence Transparency Scheme became active with the launch of a public register for people who seek to influence the Australian political process on behalf of foreign interests. It is backed by the Communist Party-controlled Rizhao City Government in partnership with Mr Ye. Neither has the fact that Mr Robb is being used to spruik a Chinese Communist Party-backed trade park as part of his consultancy agreement. He is also a former gold trader and economic commentator at The Sydney Morning Herald, The Age, the ABC and Business Spectator. What about Andrew Robb? READ MORE ABOUT BLACK DOG DAZE, CLICK HERE. Robb announced his retirement from politics on 10 February 2016. In December 2017, then Attorney-General George Brandis suggested that Mr Robb would have to sign up to the new register. Pay so everyone can. Mr Huang has been blocked from entering Australia and has had his permanent residency cancelled by the Department of Home Affairs after advice from ASIO that he may engage in foreigninterference activities on behalf of the Chinese government. In a sign of panicked desperation, the federal government is today continuing with the whole nobody but us can keep us safe national security agenda. It's been built and rebuilt in the near-century since.
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