Rio Tinto

By the time Francis Ona and the various factions of the Bougainville Revolutionary Army permanently laid down their arms on 30 April 1998, it is estimated that more than 15,000 Bougainvillians had lost their lives.

The decade long conflict – part war of independence, part civil war - had been the most bloody and costly war in the Pacific since WWII. At the turn of the millennium, Bougainville was a place of devastation.

Bougainville has long loomed large in the consciousness of many Australians.

Continue reading "Bougainvillians deserve the chance to say “it’s mine”" »

We’ve had factional thugs and faceless men, dishonourable rats and bloodsuckers, slap-downs and sabre-rattling – union officials have hit the front pages over the past week in all their rhetorical glory.

We’ve even declared war on shiny arses, although I have to admit I’m still not entirely sure what a war on shiny arses is.

But the most startling thing to me is that these exchanges have made front-page news. A bit of argy-bargy between union leaders, politicians and bosses is fairly standard practice in Australia. And some colourful language in the mix is nothing new. It’s called open, democratic society.

Continue reading "You call ‘em thugs, I call ‘em foot soldiers of democracy" »

The series of natural disasters that have caused so much damage in Queensland are creating new medium and longer term challenges for the Australian economy. 

However the Gillard Labor Government is unable to take the necessary action needed to stop the inflationary and multiplier effect its re-regulation of the labour market is bound to cause.

Unfortunately for all of us the Government can’t and won’t say no to its trade union masters.

Continue reading "Gillard continues to recognise faceless men" »

New Guinea, geographically as well as historically, is Australia’s closest relative. Separated from the mainland during the last glacial period, the waters filled-in what now separates them: 150km of the Torres Strait. 

Despite being endowed with enviable mineral stores, economic and political exploitation has left New Guinea housing many of the poorest people on earth – particularly in the western half of West Papua. 

Amidst a program toward independence from the Dutch, the international community neglected West Papua in order to realise a business deal between U.S. mining company Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold (“Freeport”) and Soeharto – at the time an Indonesian army general. 

Continue reading "Rio Tinto: A tale of rampant capitalism" »

The decision by a Shanghai court to sentence Stern Hu to ten years should teach us a lesson about the future of our relationship with China: Australia cannot expect to continue to reap the benefits of Chinese cash without periodically accepting some of its pernicious qualities.

Following the Hu sentence there will no doubt be a temptation to invoke what could be called the “Corby Protocol”, which assumes that whenever an Australian is arrested in a non-Western country they are ipso facto innocent and victims of a corrupt and dictatorial regime.

But in this case it would probably be in our interest to understand that while Hu has become a victim of the workings of the Chinese state and business, he was also very much a product of it. This was a position that up until this point had made him, and by extension Australia, very wealthy.

Continue reading "With China it’s not all beer and dim sum" »

If you ever find yourself in a foreign prison awaiting representation from Australia on your behalf just pray that West Australian Premier Colin Barnett does not come through the door.

Not only is he unlikely to put up any kind of a fight for you, after a big Yum Cha lunch he may well agree to pull the hanging lever should your executioner be off sick.

Like the prince of a Chinese tributary kingdom of the middle-ages Colin Barnett travelled to Shanghai to assure his leaders that he wasn’t angry at them over the arrest of Stern Hu – actually it was our fault as Australians for over-reacting.

Continue reading "The best eunuch in the Chinese court: Colin Barnett" »

While the Australian media is working itself into a frenzy over the jailing of Rio Tinto executive Stern Hu, the public seems to be forming a more pragmatic view of our relationship with China.

The Federal Opposition’s attempts to whip up a new round of dog whistling over the arrest have fallen on deaf ears as the public accepts there are things that are outside the power of even a Mandarin-speaking Prime Minister.

But the failure of the Hu jailing to bite with the public may speak to a broader maturing in out attitude towards the emerging superpower to which our fortunes are so closely tied.

Continue reading "What we really think about Stern Hu" »

He may be known as the Ruddbot, but when it comes to his much vaunted specialist skills on China, it would seem that batteries were not included.

As the Prime Minister plays catch up on being caught flat footed on the Stern Hu case, he needs to demonstrate that his special China skills are not just a party trick, but can genuinely be used in Australia’s interests.

When in Opposition, Kevin Rudd was quick to criticise John Howard, claiming he was “dragging his feet on providing Mr Hicks with a fair trial”. These were his exact words in a door stop he gave almost four years ago on August 2.

Continue reading "Free David Hicks, but fumble on Stern Hu" »

Nothing that follows is personally approved by David Penberthy or Rupert Murdoch, let alone Kevin Rudd. That’s the beauty of writing for a free media in a democracy.

However, it’s equally ludicrous to suggest that every word that appears in China’s state-owned media every day represents the personal views of Chinese president Hu Jintao.

I don’t know Hu - who really does? - but I’m not sure he would have chosen the noun “perfidy” to describe Rio Tinto’s betrayal of Chinalco a couple of months back. Yet that phrase was quickly interpreted as the semi-official, if colourful, position of China Inc to the collapse of the deal - purely because it ran on the “state-owned” Xinhua news agency.

Continue reading "How a man’s jailing exposed China’s state-run spin" »

餵。我的名字是凱文，我有一個非常大的問題 (Translation: Hello, my name is Kevin and I have a very big problem).

Oh how Kevin Rudd must be wishing right now for a dirty stoush with, oh, let’s say Malaysia, or Indonesia, or even better, one of the African nations.

How terribly unlucky for the Prime Minister that his first bona fide diplomatic crisis involves China. Our man in Beijing is facing calls to personally intervene in the case of Australian Rio Tinto executive Stern Hu, who’s being held without charge by Chinese authorities on suspicion of commercial espionage.

Continue reading "Hu’s Rudd’s biggest headache" »

CHINA is a huge country. Its landmass is 25 per cent bigger than Australia, its economy is 10 times larger, it has 60 times as many people and, I am led to be believe, significantly more BBQ duck restaurants.

Thankfully, Australia is still ahead in a few areas. We have more stars on our flag, we have won more cricket World Cups and, as developments in the past few weeks prove, we trounce the Chinese in corporate haggling.

Increasingly, Australian business is going to rub up against China. The People’s Republic is our No2 trading partner but is likely to regain the No1 slot from Japan this year or next. And Beijing’s “go global’’ directive, or zou chu qu, means China’s state-owned firms will continue to eye opportunities to join with, or buy outright, Australian companies.

Continue reading "China will have learned from failed mega-deal" »