The Labor Government has denied State Parliament’s request to release its secret third Belt and Road deal with the Chinese Communist Government.
With Daniel Andrews to return to work today, the Premier must explain why this third deal won’t be made public – despite the Commonwealth already tearing up two of Victoria’s Belt and Road agreements because they weren’t in the national interest.
This memorandum of understanding was signed in March 2017 and relates exclusively to, “the Development and Implementation of Public-Private-Partnerships in Infrastructure fields”.
The Department of Premier and Cabinet and the National Development and Reform Commission of the People’s Republic of China are signatories to the deal.
The revelations come as the Labor Government announced a preferred bidder arrangement on the North East Link project with the ‘Spark’ Consortium.
The Consortium includes China Construction Oceania (CCO) – a listed subsidiary of China State Construction Engineering Corporation which is a group controlled by the Chinese Communist Party.
Andrews and Labor claim that the MoU’s “disclosure would be against the public interest” and “the release of the document, disclosure would jeopardise the public interest by prejudicing diplomatic relations”.
Victorians deserve to know what promises the Victorian Government has made to the Chinese Communist Government.
Comment attributable to the Leader of the Opposition in the Legislative Council David Davis
This is an outrageous coverup. What does Daniel Andrews have to hide?
Why can’t Victorians see this secret infrastructure deal signed with the Chinese Communist Party on their behalf?
What has Daniel Andrews traded away? What has he conceded on infrastructure? What dirty secret deal has been done? Why can’t we see it?
Serious security concerns exist over the Government’s choice of Chinese Communist Government controlled partners in the North East Link and these are exacerbated by Labor’s refusal to release these secret BRI type deals.
The claim that diplomatic relations would be prejudiced is bunk.
It’s nothing more than a fig leaf for Andrews to try and refuse release of a document Victorians are plainly entitled to see.
If Andrews has nothing to hide, he should have nothing to fear in releasing this secret infrastructure deal document.
