TAKE BACK THE
PORT OF DARWIN

Australia must pivot away from China with haste.

Step one: Take back THE PORT OF Darwin.

That’s my message to the Australian Government on the back of recommendations of the Pivot report that I tabled in Parliament.

This Pivot report is the outcome of submissions many of my Nation First readers made to the China Inquiry, a campaign I ran last year asking Australians to put forward their views on the Australia-China relationship.

As it happens, our close ‘friendship’ (I use the word loosely!) with a ruthless, totalitarian, communist regime is of great concern to a lot of ordinary Australians. These people made submissions to a parliamentary inquiry, and from there the Pivot report was formed.

The report – produced by a committee of which I am chair – hits the nail on the head in its recommendations. We need to pivot away from Communist China with haste. To summarise, the report says Australia must:

Scrutinise the 99-year Chinese lease over the Port of Darwin and, if (when!) it’s found not to be in the national interest, bring the port back under Australian ownership, along with other ports or strategic infrastructure in the hands of foreigners.

**Apply a clear and consistent national interest test to all future foreign investment (and if it’s not in the national interest, veto with abandon).**

**Focus on trade diversification by expanding our trade with other countries other than Communist China (India, Vietnam and Indonesia all offer great opportunities for Australian businesses).**

**Boost manufacturing by establishing a national development bank, by refocusing and incentivising superannuation fund investment and by working with industry, unions and universities.**

**Force universities to disclose any foreign funding they receive, and block such funding if it’s not in the national interest (such as funding from Communist China for Confucius Institutes).**

**Make sure we always have sufficient fuel and medical supplies.**

**Get smarter at identifying national security and national interest risks, especially in sensitive and critical areas.**

**You can read the recommendations in full here.**

“We need to ditch China and we can. We have other willing trading partners that can fill the gap, and we should be building those partnerships as fast as possible.”

— **George Christensen**

The People’s Republic of China offers a market of great scale – we sell in huge volumes and buy at low prices.

But when China shunned our beef, barley, wine and coal exports in the thick of a pandemic for which it was responsible, it became clear we had to take a closer look at this trade ‘partnership’.

We need to ditch China and we can. We have other willing trading partners that can fill the gap, and we should be building those partnerships as fast as possible.

Investment from foreign state-owned entities or companies with links to foreign states are not in the national interest. It undermines our national security and should not be allowed.

The fact that we don’t know who owns what in our country is a serious failing of government.

Foreign influence in our universities is not acceptable. Nor is our continuing manufacturing decline.

Australians can and will develop and build world-class goods. We need to incentivise and co-operate to get manufacturing booming once again.

It is important for our future, for our sovereignty and for our national security that the Pivot report is followed up with haste by the government, for if we fail to pivot away from Communist China then there is no doubt we will be left at their mercy and, to date, mercy doesn’t seem to be a key characteristic of the regime.