Australia, explained.
Former premier of Victoria Daniel Andrews, circled, at the leaders’ “family photo” during today’s military parade in Beijing (Sergey Bobylev via Getty Images)
A former state leader’s appearance at China’s military parade tells a story of Australia’s ongoing China dilemma.
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Daniel Andrews, private statesman, grubby diplomacyDaniel Andrews, private statesman, grubby diplomacy
This afternoon’s scene in Australia’s parliament in Canberra. A member of the Opposition rises to her feet to ask:
“Will the Prime Minister condemn his close personal friend Daniel Andrews attending the Chinese Communist Party military parade, alongside the Presidents of Russia, North Korea and Iran?”
Andrews was a state-level leader in Australia’s federal system, yet one who exercised an outsized influence on Australian foreign policy. In 2018, Andrews signed Victoria up to China’s Belt and Road Initiative, which then led the federal government to pass a new law to veto the deal. “Never get between a premier and a bucket of money,” is a longstanding dictum in Australian politics, and Andrews clearly had his eyes on investment for his state rather than the broader relationship with China.
And there in Beijing today was one Daniel Andrews, now private citizen, shaking hands with China’s President Xi Jinping on the red carpet, smiling alongside a rogue’s gallery of leaders including Vladimir Putin and Kim Jong-un watching a military parade to mark 80 years since the end of the Second World War.
Former Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews shook hands with Chinese President Xi Jinping and First Lady Peng Liyuan while attending a Chinese military parade that marked 80 years since the end of its involvement in World War II.
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But let’s flip back to events in parliament in Canberra.
Earlier this week, no less a member of the ex-officials brigade than John Bolton, former national security adviser in the first Trump White House, had wondered in the Australian Financial Review whether Andrews, or former foreign minister Bob Carr, also in Beijing, were actually attending as deputised representatives of Australia. Labor insisted that Andrews and Carr were attending in a personal capacity.
Journalists also quizzed Albanese today on why the government was seemingly downgrading the relationship with China, given it had worked so hard to “stabilise” ties, and was only being represented at the parade by a diplomat – and not even the ambassador, who was away from Beijing.
“We’ll be there,” was the terse substance of the PM’s response.
It might just be as simple as spite.
In the parliament, he was only slightly more communicative: “The Australian government did have a representative there and the Australian government did have a representative 10 years ago. That was a Minister in the government. Our government chose that that would not be the case.”
Some of this controversy is driven by personality politics. Andrews is a divisive figure, having led long lockdowns in Melbourne during the Covid pandemic and earning the nickname “Dictator Dan”. His close ties to China and questions over his business interests also revive concerns about Beijing’s influence campaigns, which has tangled up politicians both Labor and Liberal. Albanese’s links to Andrews as a fellow Labor leader are seen by the Opposition as a pressure point, reflecting the ongoing debate in Australia about China’s intentions.
Whatever possessed Andrews to join a “family photo” line-up with international leaders is a question yet to be answered. Carr didn’t. Nor did New Zealand’s former prime minister John Key, although Key did have a friendly handshake with Xi. Maybe Andrews thinks – in a personal capacity – that Australia should be grateful for China’s business, which has contributed huge wealth to the country. But it might just be as simple as spite, taking up an invitation for images Andrews knows would drive his opponents back home mad. Politics can be a petty business – even on the world stage.
About the author
Daniel Flitton
Daniel Flitton is one of Australia’s most experienced foreign affairs journalists and is Managing Editor of the Lowy Institute’s international magazine, The Interpreter.
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