“There is growing concern over Communist China’s military aggression and its infiltration into our nation.
In the past week, Communist China provocatively flew warplanes over Taiwan, to which the democratic island nation responded by deploying its own fighter jets. Such incidents have led the US-based Council on Foreign Relations to flag the distinct possibility of war.
Closer to home, the Australian Strategic Policy Institute has warned of infiltration into our nation by Communist China, particularly via Chinese state-owned enterprises, and has called on the government to investigate. You can read the report in full at the Institute website.
This follows news that a Chinese state-owned company is vying to build what would essentially be a Chinese city in Papua New Guinea, right on our doorstep, literally two kilometres from Australian territory. The Prime Minister has said this news is “speculative” but the government remains concerned. While PNG is a sovereign nation, Australia cannot allow that city to be built and we should use whatever action at our disposal to stop it, including suspending foreign aid to PNG.
Meanwhile, Department of Defence bureaucrats have opted to renew a lease for data storage with a Chinese-owned data storage company. While Defence had been storing data with this company for some time, it was acquired by a Chinese firm in 2016 (with the existing Defence contract running until this year). The Prime Minister has said sensitive Defence data has been stored elsewhere but that Defence bureaucrats had said that not all of the non-sensitive data could be migrated across to another data storage site before the lease expires. While it is good to note that sensitive defence data is likely not compromised, what have Defence bureaucrats been doing about this issue for the past four years or so?
I am increasingly concerned that the Defence bureaucracy do not get the threat posed to our nation by corporations linked to the Chinese Communist Party State. I have been concerned about this since Defence claimed there was no security threat posed by a Chinese company with strategic links to the Chinese military leasing the Port of Darwin.
There needs to be push back. With other backbenchers from the Liberals and Labor on the Parliament’s Joint Standing Committee for Trade and Investment Growth, I am working behind the scenes on a major report to government that could shake things up when it comes to investment from Chinese state-owned enterprises in Australia. That report emanates from a recent inquiry that I dubbed ‘the China inquiry’ which many Nation First readers contributed to with submissions. The committee report is likely due to be tabled in March. Watch this space.”
If only there were more MP’s like Geo Christensen (and Craig Kelly)!
He is alert and ACTIVE against issues threatening our future. Send this around and ask your local MP to openly support George.