A percentage of above board investment by Beijing is in Australian water.. yes water. It is now the largest overseas buyer of our most vital commodity while our farmers struggle to meet the elevated prices being asked to irrigate their farms. How the hell is the Australian government condoning this pillaging of our water supplies by non Australians. Also doing the pilfering is Canada, US and UK. 2160GL (570.6 gals) of water is now owned by foreigners with the commies having 756 GL(152.1gals) of that.. or the best part of twice the water capacity of Sydney Harbor. Unbelievable!!
You aint the only one. I am not surprised if the UK feels the same as us Patsy. A new survey shows Australians are 'going cold' on China.... Australians' attitudes towards China are hardening, according to the Lowy Institute's annual poll that has found plummeting trust in China and its President Xi Jinping. Only 23 per cent of Australians trust China to act responsibly in the world, a dramatic fall from 52 per cent just two years ago. Natasha Kassam from the Lowy Institue said the poll detected a "generally gloomy sentiment", with Australians feeling "far more distrustful, pessimistic and generally less secure in the world." https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-06...sceptical-china-disappointed-america/12384682
Thomas governments forget they serve the people. Sure they think it is the other way round. The Federal Government's long-awaited foreign ownership of water entitlement register reveals investors from China and the United States have the biggest stake in foreign-owned water entitlements in Australia. The results from this survey were released in March last year and to date there has been no official government announcement toward reduction of foreign ownership of our water supply. I suspect the virus has had a bearing on this and we may hear something shortly. Or will the Feds sweep it under the carpet with its usual rhetoric of "we need foreign investment". To my knowledge no other developed nation permits this. A good percentage of China's water entitlement evidently goes towards irrigating Australia's largest cotton farm Cubbie Station in which we generously allowed the commies to buy a controlling interest a decade ago. It is the biggest irrigation operation in the Southern Hemisphere. The Fed Gov made amends over Cubbie, to an extent in 2016 when they refused to allow our largest cattle station Kidman & Co. to fall into Beijing's greedy hands. I recall at the time Beijing and XI Jining were spitting chips (not happy). Tuff titties. Instead the station remains a local concern after it was sold to Hancock Prospecting's Gina Rinehart (nee Hancock). Kidmans is the largest private landholder in Australia with eleven cattle stations, a herd of 155,000 cattle covering over 100,000 square kilometres (38,610 sq mi)
Thanks, Craig. The interesting bit really is why a gov't is allowed to sell vital general services to foreign investors in the first place. The Australian government must be in deep water. Back in the 90s there was a tendency over here to privatise energy and water supply in the course of which a French and a Swedish concern got a stake in both. Not unexpectedly, a monopoly position of domestic private companies on water supply in some regions has led to higher prices. Meanwhile there has been a trend towards remunicipalisation also fueled by a referendum and several citizens' initiatives. It's bad enough that foreign investors were allowed to get their hands on the water supply business. But selling vital services of general interest to foreigners like China would most likely be causing a public outcry if protests in the past are anything to go by.
No Thomas our govt is not in deep water. In fact, for the past decade or so Australia has enjoyed strong economic growth. Perhaps back when they sold the water there may have been an economic downtown and they figured a way out was to sell off state and federal public assets to the highest bidder which is usually a foreign investor. Same as happened in Germany back in the 90s. Those Chinese commies tried to get their grubby hands on our major electricity grid provider a few years back. Our Federal Liberal Govt nailed the idea on the head quick smart. So seems this old habit of selling off Australia's public assets to foreign investors is hopefully a thing of the past.
Australia's relationship with Communist China is now a train wreck. Where will it end. Is this the price my country has to pay for exerting itself on the world stage? In a new development over our cyber hacking allegation by Beijing the commies have now turned round and accused Australia of doing the same to them.
China excels in deflecting criticism back on the accuser, even when it's obvious they are in the wrong. When the Corona Virus was discovered to have started in Wuhan, their first response was to say it was started by the USA.
Congressman Ted Yoho, a Republican from Florida is urging the US, Australia the UK, ASEAN nations and other key allies to tame China’s aggressive behaviour by choosing to do manufacturing business elsewhere. He told the House Foreign Affairs Committee hearing titled “China’s Maritime Ambitions” a powerful bloc of western and Asian nations needed to come together to rebuff China before it was too late. Yoho said the bloc of nations should do their manufacturing anywhere but China. “If we do not stand up to China today it will not be possible.” “We are paying them and they are creating the money that we are fighting against and I think it is time the world wakes up.” This is the type of anti China rhetoric that is becoming increasingly more common almost weekly. I applaud congressman Yoho for speaking out. Was President Trump present at the hearing?
Scott Morrison today announced a $Aus multi billion expenditure on new defense projects which include the latest American-made ICBMs, to combat China's continued muscle flexing stance in the Indo/Pacific region. I have to say I am proud the way Australia is now exerting its influence more on the world stage. This will no doubt further pi** off Beijing who refuses to respect us and treats us like a second class nation.. gggrrr. There is a downside tho, to making us stronger defensively and that is.. our enemies will see us as a greater target.
China increases tariffs on Australian beef, milk powder. Those commies have upped the trade ante by imposing further restriction on our exports by hurting Australian beef and dairy farmers. They really are an insidious regime and it is now time for the west to put a stop to them.
This is the response by the mouthpiece of the Chinese Communist Party.. the Global Times yesterday (Thursday) over Australia's massive defense spending announcement. “These weapon procurement plans have been widely interpreted as being ‘aimed at China’,” the news service reported, in an article titled China ‘prepared against military provocation from Australia’. “While the Chinese military has no intention of provoking Australia, it is also not afraid of Australian provocations.” It went on to say that: “Judging from the specifics of the listed weapons and equipment, analysts noted that they are obviously not intended for homeland defense, but for long-range combat”. “Australia is only a follower of the US and its capability in the South China Sea will be limited despite the new plans.” The Global Times quoted Beijing-based naval expert Li Jies as saying China may develop defense systems among other measures to deal with potential Australia-US collaboration against it. “China can also take countermeasures in terms of politics, diplomacy and economic measures.”
Australia has now placed her deck on the table. No turning back now. China has gotten the message that we are not going to take their meddling in the Indo/Pacific region lying down. The Commies now know that we have put at risk our strong trading partnership. The message I am reading here is that Sco Mo does not care. So is he already planning a trading life away from Beijing and its influence? This is intrigue at its best. Wrong Commies..we are a close ally of the US.. there is a big difference. This defense build up is for home protection as I see it. So wrong again. It appears Australia's defense chiefs are not interested in the South China Sea. The US is so they can take care of that.