[9] He was re-elected at the 2010 election and was appointed Shadow Minister for Finance, Deregulation and Debt Reduction and retained his position as chairman of the Coalition Policy Development Committee. Chinas strategy is very long-term. David is the founding publisher and editor of MacroBusiness and was the founding publisher and global economy editor of The Diplomat, the Asia Pacifics leading geo-politics and economics portal. Former deputy secretary of state Richard Armitage said he was stunned that Australia had blind-sided its ally. But it will not share any profit that Landbridge may eventually make. A Chinese company that owns a 99-year lease on Darwin port has warned that its treatment at the hands of the Australian government risks scaring away investors from other countries. Of course it's not our fault. If Landbridge was to default, it would lose its money. What about Andrew Robb? We acknowledge Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples as the First Australians and Traditional Custodians of the lands where we live, learn, and work. . "It involves the use of soft-power networks, influence over politicians on all sorts of levels, from local levels right up to the top.". "Debate and transparency and honesty about things is not bad. And all of it is being done under the guise of economic development at a time of economic turbulence for those countries, Dr Garrick said, which sounds familiar to Darwin, where the NT Government is currently going through a fiscal crisis and severe economic downturn. John Garrick does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment. "The proposal has been fully recognised and highly affirmed by the Shandong Province Party Committee, the Provincial Government and the Department of Commerce," the Chinese government statement said. In Australia it gave influential Liberal Party figure and former trade minister Andrew Robb an $880,000 job just months after he . 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. Robb, one of nine children, was born to Frank and Marie Robb, on a dairy farm in Epping which lies 18 kilometres (11mi) north of Melbourne. Robb was on the payroll of Landbridge before he resigned as an MP. It makes Darwin an interesting case study a point of contest between the strategies of the US and China. "It's probably too late to do anything. Mr Robb, who quit as a minister in Malcolm Turnbull's government before the last election, previously denied working on behalf of Beijing, and defended his contract with Landbridge, saying he was not doing business in Australia, so could not be captured by the new scheme. and I said, 'well, I'd love to but I've been a minister in a cabinet, in a related area, I can't do any work for you in Australia and I can't do it for 18 months'," he said. A companydocument revealed that Mr Robbs consulting contract was so vague and ill-defined he would be paid even if he did nothing. Secondly, it's not 'we' this is in of those 'gotcha' questions should be asking PM Morrison. Were working to restore it. Billionaire Ye Cheng is the owner of Landbridge, which controversially acquired the 99-year lease for the Port of Darwin in 2015. This story is part two in our look at the port as part of Curious Darwin, our story series where you ask us the questions, vote for your favourite, and we investigate. Chinese Commerce Minister Gao Hucheng, former prime minister Tony Abbott and then trade minister Andrew Robb at the signing of the China-Australia free trade agreement in June 2015. Andrew Robb quits China-linked firm before foreign interference law President Xi subsequently established an integration committee to oversee civilian and military investment in technology. 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. Its estimated that Mr Robb pocketed more than $2 million plus expenses from Landbridge. Mr Ye frames much of his business activity, including the acquisition of the Port of Darwin lease, in terms of advancing Beijing's ambitious global trade and infrastructure project "One Belt, One Road". Australia-China political relations had turned to custard and business ties could follow. Zhang Jie, a researcher at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, wrote in 2015 about the concept of first civilian, later military in which commercial ports are to be built with the goal of slowly being developed into strategic support points to assist China defending maritime channel security and control key waterways. Now not so much. The $506 million the Northern Territory Government was paid for a 99-year lease of the Darwin Port by Chinese company Landbridge is long gone, but Australians' feelings of unease remain. Landbridge confirmed Mr Robbs departure. Can the Darwin Port's 99-year lease to China be reversed? Darwin port deal is a nice little earner. Additionally, he conducted 85 investment roundtables with 28 countries. "That model of developing other sites around the waterfront is part of the model that has been used in Sri Lanka, Pakistan and Djibouti and other places," he said. He was an agricultural economist with the Victorian Department of Agriculture and a tutor in economics at La Trobe University before being an economist for the National Farmers' Federation, and later executive director of both the National Farmers' Federation and the Cattle Council of Australia. Every contribution, however big or small, keeps the lights on for this cowboy operation. That is obvious. Darwin port's sale is a blueprint for China's future economic expansion The Port of Darwin lease made sense a few years ago. No longer - Crikey Nobody in the emerging liberal trading bloc is going to be upset by it. Scott Morrison's Role In Selling Darwin Port To China Lobbyists have until March 1 to register, although government sources have acknowledged that enforcing the scheme may be difficult given the lack of legal precedent surrounding its operation and the likelihood that some potential registrants will argue it does not apply to them. Mr Ye is the owner of Landbridge, which controversially acquired the 99-year lease for the Port of Darwin in . By all accounts, he wasn't involved with Landbridge in late 2015 when the deal went through, and the federal cabinet was not aware of the deal until hours before then-chief minister Adam Giles announced it publicly in November 2015. The bid for the port was examined and approved by the Foreign Investments Review Board, the Defence Department and ASIO. Ye Cheng, of Landbridge, and then trade minister Andrew Robb in 2015. Credit: Glenn Campbell. 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. Mr Robb has also been spruiking Rymill Coonawarra, a South Australian winery in which Mr Ye has a financial interest. From left, now Treasurer Josh Frydenberg, Landbridge chief Ye Cheng and then trade minister Andrew Robb at a northern development conference in 2015. revealed his fee, and that he had joined the company straight after quitting parliament, has been blocked from entering Australia and has had his permanent residency cancelled, continues to advocate for Australia to back the policy. Port in a storm: the Darwin lease made sense only a few years ago. Please login to engage in the commentary. [8] The then leader of the Liberal Party, former Defence Minister, Brendan Nelson, announced that Robb would be Shadow Minister for Foreign Affairs in the new Coalition Shadow Cabinet. Andrew Robb joins Chinese company that controls Darwin Port - The New Daily As soon as he left politics, Robb was hired by Shandong Landbridge on a $880,000 per year salary. Opportunities exist across website, brand awareness, podcasts, social media content, and video campaigns. and back in 2016, when former trade minister Andrew Robb was enjoying his $880,000 a year consulting contract with Landbridge, . Darwin already has no less than six sister city arrangements, including with the Chinese city of Haikou. he said. "We had our deputy prime minister last year stand up in front of a Channel 9 TV camera and say, 'I want all Australians to know that ISIS is not our security threat, China is our security threat'; this is irresponsible," Mr Robb said. Many Curious Darwin readers asked how Mr Robb was . Then trade minister Andrew Robb is congratulated after he concluded the second reading debate on the China - Australia Free Trade Agreement in 2015. controversially acquired the 99-year lease for the Port of Darwin in 2015. We have always worked closely with our contacts and jealously guard their identities. It may have been pushed by . Mr Ye plans to build a second trade park in Darwin. Chinese-owned Darwin Port struggling to pay back debts In cases like Sri Lanka, China offered loans to build infrastructure. 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. You can submit your questions on any topic at all, or vote on our next investigation. "I was approached two months after I finished in parliament and certainly about four or five months after I'd finished in cabinet and the [Landbridge] chairman said to me, 'would you consider coming and doing some work for me?' But theres an election coming up and weve dropped the ball on some many issues because weve played politics instead of just doing our jobs, so we need to pretend that well be speaking Mandarin in 12 months if people dont vote for us.. Followed categories will be added to My News. Howard had to be talked out of dumping Andrew in 1995 from his position as Federal director. Murders of Andrew Robb and David McIlwaine, Minister for Vocational and Further Education, hired by Shandong Landbridge on a $880,000 per year salary, Learn how and when to remove this template message, JapanAustralia Economic Partnership Agreement, "Liberal Andrew Robb takes $880k China job as soon as he finishes in parliament", "Andrew Robb quits China-linked form before foreign interference law kicks in", "With memories of '93, the opposition readies the troops never to lose an unlosable election again", "ROBB: Andrew: Officer of the Order of Australia", "Liberals quietly go monarchist under Abbott", "Tony Abbott's cabinet and outer ministry", "Andrew Robb's secret China contract: money for nothing", "Andrew Robb unleashes over being targeted in foreign probe", "Robb joins Chinese company with control of Darwin Port", "Coalition defends Andrew Robb after revelation he started job while an MP", "ASIO warned politicians about taking cash from Huang Xiangmo, Chau Chak Wing", "China's 'invisible billionaire' the Port of Darwin's new owner", "Robb says work on a project in China was 'put in the bin' over toxic relations", "Investors keep The Boathouse Group afloat", "Coronavirus pandemic could trigger a spike in mental illness this organisation thinks psychedelic drugs will help", "Interview with Neil Mitchell, 3AW 693am: Andrew Robb MP - Federal Member for Goldstein", Andrew Robb profile on TheyVoteForYou.Org.Au, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Andrew_Robb&oldid=1151969229, Liberal Party of Australia members of the Parliament of Australia, Members of the Australian House of Representatives, Members of the Australian House of Representatives for Goldstein, All Wikipedia articles written in Australian English, BLP articles lacking sources from August 2007, Articles with unsourced statements from November 2021, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License 3.0, This page was last edited on 27 April 2023, at 10:13.
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