Apart from the Indian billionaire Adani family angling for a billion bucks from the $5billion Northern Australian Infrastructure Facility, perhaps getting a special royalties deal , a massive free water draw off from the artesian aquifer for the proposed Carmichael mega coalmine in Queensland , it now seems the Chinese company , Landbridge , in which a billionaire is a key player , which was incredibly given a 99-year lease of Port Darwin , much to the disbelief and anger of the Pentagon , is also rattling a begging bowl for a slice of the same kitty .
It is not the same smelly kitty served up to Senator Sam Dastyari in the revelations about Chinese influence in politics in Australia ? The superb Four Corners-Fairfax report about the Chinese influence and manipulation raised the fact that former Trade Minister Andrew Robb , who, soon after leaving politics , landed a job as a high level economic consultant with Landbridge , getting a cool $73,000 a month , including GST . Or nearly $900,000 a year !!!!!!!!
It has been likened to having a winning pak-a-pu Chinese lottery ticket every month or 12 Chinese New Year celebrations all in one , year after year .
As you would expect , this astonishingly well paid job is the subject of much discussion in Darwin drinking establishments , where Mick Dundee and his uncouth mates conduct lurid , outrageous conversations , sprinkled with many WTFs . How much each month ???? WTF!!!!!!!Of course, there is no suggestion Robb did anything untoward in taking up this job .
That devilish Australian Finance Review cartoonist, David Rowe, whom many politicians would like to insert bamboo shoots under his fingernails and subject him to Chinese water torture , or acceptable free world US waterboarding , included Robb and Senator Dastyari in the great piece below , shown on the ABC Insiders, which caused an outbreak of mirth across the angry nation .
For those with poor eyesight , no television and only get what passes for news in regional Murdoch papers that span the nation , the scene shows The Long (Chinese) March from the Australian Parliament to a remunerative job with China.
Senator Dastyari is depicted hanging like an albino Peking Duck in the window of Sammy's Kitchen , next to the Parliament House exit door, outside which is a coin operated kangaroo automaton with a Chinese panda bear in its pouch; nearby is a traffic parking sign which states parking between the ministerial guidelines operates from nine to five , Monday to Friday ; footprints lead from Parliament House to Robb knocking on the red door marked China , a box of bits and pieces from when he was a minister under his arm; is that a Commonwealth car parked nearby , a flying pig its mascot ? ; what could be taken as the eyes of an ASIO officer are in the drain ??? WTF does this all this mean ????
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The glug, glug heard all the way to Washington . Former Chief Minister Giles celebrating with Ye Cheng when the Landbridge deal for the lease of the port was announced . All of Canberra was out to a long lunch at the time .
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The Country Liberal Party government in the Territory , headed by Chief Minister Adam Giles , tossed out on its ear at the last election, signed the port deal with Landbridge and in doing so took a 20 per cent holding in the venture .
The share would not result in any profit for the NT Government-it would simply have a say-and an attempt would be made to transfer it to an Australian company .
The former NT Chief Minister Adam Giles now rides the range for mining magnate Gina Rinehart , Australia's answer to the cattle queen Barbara Stanwyck in the l960s TV series , The Big Valley , buying up pastoral properties , with links to China on several fronts.
Now Landbridge has been reported as saying it has asked NAIF for some funding for the port development . Some cynics say the company , like Adani , may be having difficulty getting finance from conventional sources due to the fact that the US government is against the lease , especially as an increasing number of US Marines are using Darwin and there is talk of even basing bombers there to keep a check on Chinese expansion .
Like Adani , Landbridge is saying it has already spent a lot of money , $10 million , and that if the NT retained its 20 percent share it would be a win-win situation ... It could also be seen as a lever to justify a loan from NAIF as the Territory is facing tough times .
Interestingly , the June 7 edition of the Financial Review said Landbridge, in difficulties with " its ailing Australian" operations, had applied to the Chinese Export-Import Bank (EXIM) for a $500 million loan , using the port lease as an asset . The report said that in the event that Landbridge defaulted on such a loan, the port could revert back to Territory ownership, the Foreign Investment Review Board also could step in .
In respect of Landbridge's proposed hotel project, a group long active in protecting Darwin from building and planning excesses , the Planning Action Network (PLAN ) , has lodged a protest about the first subdivision stage of the proposed hotel project .
PLAN convenor Margaret Clinch wrote to the Development Consent Authority saying further time was needed for greater public consultation to examine the development's implications , including security issues related to Chinese investment raised by Four Corners.
The application had been quickly withdrawn 14 days after exhibition so that her organisation and the general public were no longer able to see it . Furthermore, the planning notice had not been placed in a position where many members of the general public would have seen it , the implications realised .
Ms Clinch was quoted on the ABC as saying the Planning Institute, the City of Darwin, and an unidentified business person also had concerns regarding the consideration scheduling of the application. The development , she added, was at odds with the Waterfront Area Plan.
