‘We must be proactive to ensure the national interest is the number one consideration’: Abetz
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Liberal Senator Eric Abetz has spoken to Sky News about the push among some Coalition MPs who have called on Treasurer Josh Frydenberg impose tougher controls on the Port of Newcastle to protect against Chinese interference. The half Chinese owned Port of Newcastle is the world’s largest coal export port and accounts for up to 40 per cent of Australian coal exports. The group argues current regulations give the Communist Party of China a geopolitical advantage over the export of Australian coal, and want the port declared a monopoly under the National Access Regime. Mr Abetz said he was “quite surprised to learn of not only the foreign ownership (of the port) but the foreign ownership’s extremely close links with the communist dictatorship in China”. “We need to get some mechanisms in place now to ensure that we protect the Hunter jobs and also the earning capacity of our coal mines”. “I think we need to be proactive, on the alert, to ensure that the national interest is the number one consideration”.
Liberal Senator Eric Abetz has spoken to Sky News about the push among some Coalition MPs who have called on Treasurer Josh Frydenberg impose tougher controls on the Port of Newcastle to protect against Chinese interference.
The half Chinese owned Port of Newcastle is the world’s largest coal export port and accounts for up to 40 per cent of Australian coal exports.
The group argues current regulations give the Communist Party of China a geopolitical advantage over the export of Australian coal, and want the port declared a monopoly under the National Access Regime.
Mr Abetz said he was “quite surprised to learn of not only the foreign ownership (of the port) but the foreign ownership’s extremely close links with the communist dictatorship in China”.
“We need to get some mechanisms in place now to ensure that we protect the Hunter jobs and also the earning capacity of our coal mines”.
“I think we need to be proactive, on the alert, to ensure that the national interest is the number one consideration”.
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