Opposition accuses Anthony Albanese of siding with China

Anthony Albanese “is not sitting on our side of the table” when it comes to China, an opposition frontbencher says, after Beijing reportedly banned iron ore from Australia’s biggest miner. Bloomberg reported that a Chinese state-run group that buys iron ore froze BHP shipments after pricing negotiations stalled. BHP has refused to confirm or deny it, even as the mining giant’s shares plummeted. The Prime Minister on Wednesday morning said he was “concerned” by the apparent stand-off and said he wanted “to see this resolved quickly”. But speaking later, opposition defence spokesman Angus Taylor accused Mr Albanese of failing to call out the Chinese Communist Party for trying to “suppress the price” of Australian iron ore. “We’ve clearly got a consortium of Chinese buyers and we want to have a good relationship with our Chinese trading partners but not when they’re working together to suppress the price,” Mr Taylor told Sky News. “That is a big deal. It’s going back to the bad old days of 10-15 years ago when this was happening. “They’re trying it again. It has a huge impact on us.” Asked if Mr Albanese should be cautious of meddling in business negotiations, Mr Taylor repeated that BHP was up against a “consortium working together to hold the price down”. “I mean, that’s what’s going on here, and I think that’s not playing by the rules,” he said. “But more broadly … the government is not prepared to call out the Chinese Communist Party when it does the wrong thing and not prepared to intervene where they need to.” He went on to lash former Victorian premier Dan Andrews for posing in “a family photograph with dictators from all around the world” at a Chinese military parade earlier this month. Among those with Mr Andrews, who once house-shared with Mr Albanese, was Chinese President Xi Jinping and the leaders of North Korea and Russia. “The Prime Minister wasn’t prepared to call him out,” Mr Taylor said. “And you’ve got to ask, whose side of the table does the Prime Minister sit on when it comes to these issues? “It seems to me, he’s not sitting on our side of the table when it comes to issues like these.” A government spokesperson rejected Mr Taylor’s accusation in a statement to NewsWire. “This is another example of why even Angus Taylor’s own colleagues don’t take him seriously,” they told NewsWire. “The government’s focus is always on Australia’s national interest. “Time after time, it’s very clear the Liberal Party is only concerned with its own narrow and divisive internal interests.” Australia is the world’s largest producer of iron ore. It accounts for more than 20 per cent of the country’s total exports and is projected to be worth $116bn in 2024–25. China is Australia’s biggest market, with Australian ore fuelling ravenous Chinese steelmakers as they in turn try to keep up with an insatiable construction industry. Speaking to reporters earlier, Mr Albanese said he wanted to “make sure … that markets operate properly”, noting, as Mr Taylor did, “we have seen those issues in the past”. “I want to see Australian iron ore be able to be exported into China without hindrance,” he said. “That is important. It makes a major contribution to China’s economy but also to Australia’s.” Asked if he was disappointed given his recent state visit in July. “Well, these measures are always disappointing,” Mr Albanese said. “But let’s hope, certainly, that they are very much short term.”