It is peculiar in the extreme that Mr Li Changchun, one of the highest ranking Chinese Party officials, could have lunch at The Lodge and for the Prime Minister Mr Rudd to think the Australian people would not be interested in what was discussed, said Senator Barnaby Joyce, the Leader of the Nationals in the Senate.
“The Chinese sovereign wealth funds such as Chinalco are an arm of the Chinese Government,” Senator Joyce. “They want to purchase a large stake in our resource base which I believe will be detrimental to the long-term wealth base of Australia. This is not only my belief it is also a palpable concern of the Australian people if the correspondence I receive is in any way a reflection of sentiment.
“It is in China’s long-term interest to extend their sovereign ownership over a resource base for their use. As I walk down Londsdale Street today in Melbourne I see the headquarters of BHP Billiton and as self-evident as that building is should be the fact to all Australians that our wealth was, is and will be our connection to our mineral base. If, for instance, the OZ Minerals sale to Minmetals goes ahead, which will mean that its four Australian mines are 100 per cent owned by the Chinese Government, then how can you argue against the Chinese Government owning 18 per cent of one of our major exporters, Rio Tinto.
“If in the long term the Australian people are divested from their sovereign connection to their primary source of wealth, is it even tenable that you would be able to get it back without a major diplomatic issue on your hands and in that major diplomatic issue would you prevail.
“We should not feel guilty about saying the word ‘No’. China did precisely the same thing last week with Coca-Cola’s bid for the Huiyuan juice company. Our mineral wealth is far more important to us than a juice company is to China.
“In closing, Mr Rudd are you now going to invite all other Australians of a contrarian view to lunch to discuss our concerns.”