Will our politicians be able to handle this.

https://www.zerohedge.com/news/2019-02-21/miner-shares-slide-beijing-bans-australian-coal-imports
Billionaire political donor Huang Xiangmo, Beijing's former top lobbyist/fixer in Australia has just had his long-standing application for Aussie citizenship rejected and his permanent residency cancelled while travelling overseas, leaving him stranded and locked out of his USD10m Sydney mansion. The citizenship application refusal apparently comes on both character grounds and concerns about the reliability of his answers in interviews and correspondence with authorities including ASIO, the Australian intelligence service. Note that Mr. Huang has donated AUD2.7m to both major political parties over the last five years and also funds former foreign minister Bob Carr’s Sydney think tank - Carr himself having made several recent public statements arguing for Australia to side with China due to their economic link
Five harbors overseen by Dalian customs - Dalian, Bayuquan, Panjin, Dandong and Beiliang - will not allow Australian coal to clear through customs, said the official. Coal imports from Russia and Indonesia will not be affected.

"I’m aware of unconfirmed and unsourced media reports and have asked our Ambassador in Beijing to urgently clarify their veracity," said Australia’s Minister for Trade Simon Birmingham.

"We continue to engage closely with industry on matters of market access...China is a valued partner of Australia and we trust that our free trade agreement commitments to each other will continue to be honored.
"It would be hard to understate how big of a problem this is for Australia. The ramifications will be felt, not only by the country's miners, but by the broader Australian economy, and as economist Robert Rennie notes, a ban would have a major impact on Australian exports as 22% of Australian coking coal exports in 2018 went to China (39mt). 24% of Australian thermal coal exports in 2018 went to China (49mt).

So its tit for tat...
Xiangmo has his Australian citizenship application rejected..and China bans our coal.....
This will get ugly unless our leaders can sort it out....
Hands up those who think it wont get ugly.....
And dont forget...
"So will Australia capitulate on its decision to ban Huawei from building a 5G network in the country on national security grounds. Given Germany and the UK's decisions to begrudgingly allow Huawei access following demands from their telecoms industries, and with the threat of losing one of its biggest trading partners, it at least has a convenient excuse."
Yep....its going to get ugly......

 

Don't you hate it when Superpowers use the trading stick...apparently New Zealand got hit by the Tourism stick...let me just consult the "Small country Survival Guide"

...What to do when you ban an individual (and Huawei) and Superpower bans one of your major export products...hit the panic button...no... engage in diplomacy ASAP. Ok over to Marissa Payne... no pressure

 

I'll add this...

I think it's more about Huawei than Mr Huang, it's not going well in China at the moment and we're basically slicing their revenue all the while expecting them to invest in ours. I think the government should closely consider the Huawei ban, we're too exposed to China to play America's trade games.. we simply can't afford it.

As far as the political funding and spying goes, I think the government and ASIO is doing a great job handling this and have taken action ito new legislation, but let's not be precious about it. This is pretty much happening everywhere.... to everyone... from every angle

vvv Peer to Peer lending meltdown 4 weeks ago. I feel terrible for these people... entire families have lost everything.

 

So does Australia continue to be a lapdog for the US or do we strengthen our ties with China.
Or do we sit on the fence and continue to have a bit each way....
I think its a bit too hard for Marise Payne...and Simon Birmingham....
Of course assisting the US in expanding their military base in Papua New Guinea would have gone down
well with China.....
Perhaps Marise Payne and Trade Minister Simon Birmingham can get their heads together and work something out to appease China...maybe suck up a little more...maybe contribute a few billion more dollars to their Infrastructure Bank...which doesnt help Australia much...
Maybe buy a few more F35s and subs...we might need them if the Trade war becomes a shooting war....
Then whose side are we on the US or China......
Maybe we could sell NT to China...no wait a bit...we're selling parts of the farm already arent we....
All too hard for our boofheads....
And to make matters worse, if Labor win the election, we have to put these decisions in their hands....its like choosing between being bitten by a viper or a cobra....pft....

 

sw,
do you think she can handle it?
Best foreign Ministers we had (in the last 20 years) was J.Bishop (I hate to say) and K.Rudd.
On international affairs the current Liberal mob (incl. our PM) looks like some poorly conceived teenagers, which grew up somewhere behind Nimbin....
Reg.

 

you guys export coal? isn't that like an egregious sin against progressivism or something? that stuffs melting the planet. or freezing it, depending on what decade we're in...

for shame!

 

Yes and it is the main reason we fail in relation to our climate change targets. On the bright side our coal is mostly black coal which Burns with less pollution than brown

But mate don’t even THINK about playing the “dirty bedroom” game

“But muuuuuum! Why should I have to clean my bedroom when Billy’s bedroom is dirty! “

 

We scrub our coal emissions. Nothin but plant food!

Our room us WAAAY cleaner than Billy's.

BTW- that gives us plenty high ground from which to look down our noses on supposedly developed nations that still pump the mercury and sulfer and whatnot into the environment.

 

The media at it again. China’s economy is slowing and their steel production has been hit by US tarrifs. So the market has shifted. No doubt it was advantageous timing given the espionage claims. Probably has more to do with China trying to create a market correction, also known as a price drop.

If I had a choice between China and the USA, I would choose Uncle Sam everyday of the week. The US has no desire on our sovereignty.

 

I don't know her very well, but off the cuff yes I do think she can handle it (bearing in mind it was apparently fake new). I'll add that she has held a big portfolio before (Defence) and as opposed to Julie Bishop who at times made abrasive remarks against China... and enjoyed the limelight, Marissa Payne seemed to be more focused on just doing her job.

I'm a Rudd fan because he wanted to tax the miners... of course the very reason he was stabbed in the back by his own party.

 

See this is what I'm talking about... Julie Bishop is about all about herself... not about doing the job

listen to this crap... since when has she become the irreplaceably goddess of diplomacy.. give me a break

(big fat rolleye for this article)
The PM we never had, and Morrison's failure to value Julie Bishop
https://www.smh.com.au/politics/fed...re-to-value-julie-bishop-20190222-p50zox.html

 

The more I think about this issue the more convinced I am that Marissa Payne is more qualified than Julie Bishop to deal with China.

I'l argue as follows;

As Minister of Defence she would be even more informed than Julie Bishop on the South China Sea and matters concerning China

Julie Bishop (prior to the Trump administration) was galavanting all over the US actively campaigning for US involvement in the SCS... if you're a hawk you would cheer her on, but if you look at it from China's perspective she actively and openly worked against them from the start. Why would they prefer her over another.

If you add knowledge, restraint and lack of drama together, then Marissa Payne is a far better placed to deal with China diplomatically

 

Payne has not set the world on fire as defence minister and China don’t give a rats rectum who the foreign minister is, was, or will be. They will coninue to do as they please until they are pulled up. Outside of the USA, there is no other force big enough to threaten Chinas bully boy tactics. This is a game of chess between the two super powers, and Australia is a mere knight on the side of the USA.

Payne may make a reasonable FM, she hasn’t got much to live up to. There are probably better candidates, but they are all men, and we can’t have that now can we?

 

https://www.zerohedge.com/news/2019-02-21/us-cities-face-moment-reckoning-china-halts-trash-imports
Well, they dont take Americas trash any more...so the US room is dirtier than mine...
Cant work out how it would be cheaper to collect all a nations trash in trucks, compress it, transport it to a port, then ship it to China for disposal..rather than dispose of the waste within the US...
Maybe a politician got a kick back somewhere for arranging that....wouldnt happen would it...
I dont think we're a knight on the side of the US...maybe a pawn....not a knight....

 

Well thank god for that... you don't exactly want your defence minister to set the world on fire

My point exactly is that Marissa Payne is nowhere near the drama queen Julie Bishop is, she's well aware of what is going on in the SCS due to her previous portfolio, which in my opinion makes her perfect for dealing with issues regarding China.

Yes exactly, but economically this places us in a very vulnerable position. China could easily sink us... it's a very delicate situation. It absolutely matters who our Minister of Foreign Affairs are...., TO US

 

They don't take ours anymore either

Recycling crisis prompts Victorian Government to sink millions into sector
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2018-07...ictoria-24-million-funding-for-sector/9933962


Five Melbourne councils forced to dump recycling in landfill as Victoria crisis deepens
https://www.theguardian.com/austral...ycling-in-landfill-as-victoria-crisis-deepens

 

So are female politicians drama queens...deary me...

 

Looks like the sh1t is really hitting the fan....

 

We need recycling solutions urgently...

 

I refer to two politicians, both female... say one is a drama queen.... and this is what you take away.... ^^^ illogical
btw I also think Malcolm Turnbull is a drama queen... neither him nor Bishop have any clue how to exit politics with dignity

 

We are in a precarious situation economically, but so are they. Not from us per say but from the USA. Ever wonder what would happen if the US ceased all imports from China? This is why China are systematically trying to move their economy from outside reliance to internal reliance. This would cushion the fall. Always remember there is big money to be made in conflict, contrived or not.?

A foreign minister should come from the centre of politics, not the peripheries. This allows a broader acceptance from global politics. Not sure where Payne sits, and I find it a little amusing that we are talking about a Liberal being the FM, considering less than a month ago we gave the Libs no hope of holding government.

 

Isnt it amusing how everyone is wetting their pants over climate change, and yet 1700 jets fly into the Davos Conference, and not a word is said....and the conference was to discuss climate change and global warming...pft....oops...I better stay on topic....

 

Come in spinner....

 

If America stops all imports Australia is done for... because without exports China won't need raw materials.... from us. 30% of our income will disappear overnight... at the same time our housing market is collapsing... and households are over their heads in debt.

Australia have benefitted more than any other country from China's meteoric rise...and we will hurt more than any other from it's collapse... so let's be careful what we wish for.

ok I respect that... personally I think the situation in the SCS, the military bases from both China and the US/Philippines, US/Australia in PNG in addition to Indonesias military bases... also the Huawei situation and other "threats" (political funding, hacking etc) makes Payne uniquely placed to deal with China... we're currently in a very hostile environment... but need to keep cool heads to protect our economy.


I also just want to point to this myth vvvv

There's only big money to be made if the war is not IN your country....I honestly despise this saying... because it absolutely ignores the suffering that comes hand in hand with this type of profiteering

 

What, you think that is sexist??? I always thought Swan was a drama queen along with Rudd, Bowen, Pyne, McCormack ( if that is the way it is spelt) and the list could go on. Let us not even look at the loony greens...