Australian government split over MP who invoked Nazis to warn about China’s growing influence
- Andrew Hastie wrote an opinion piece last week for Channel 9 newspapers comparing the rise of China as an unnoticed existential threat to that of Nazi Germany
- His column argued the West had wrongly calculated that economic liberalisation in China would lead to democratisation
Hastie is not a minister but is an influential member of Australia’s ruling Liberal-National coalition, and is the chair of parliament’s intelligence and security committee, which is privy to classified information.
His column outlined the dangers of not comprehending China’s ideological motivation for building ports and roads, arguing the West had wrongly calculated that economic liberalisation in China would lead to democratisation.
Powerful ministers including Attorney General Christian Porter and Finance Minister Mathias Cormann criticised Hastie’s column, while Home Affairs Minister Peter Dutton defended it, and Prime Minister Scott Morrison remained neutral.
The split continued to widen over the weekend when Trade Minister Simon Birmingham told his colleagues to watch their words.
“I would certainly encourage any colleague or indeed anybody making comments around sensitive foreign policy matters to pose a couple of questions,” he told ABC TV’s Insiders programme. “Is the making of those comments in a public way necessary? Is it helpful to Australia’s national interests?” Former ambassador to Israel and Liberal member for Wentworth Dave Sharma tweeted his support for Hastie’s analysis on Saturday.