South Australian Premier Accused of ‘Sleeping with the Enemy’ After Speaking at Chinese Consulate Opening

Independent Senator Rex Patrick speaks during a rally for the Uyghur community outside Parliament House in Canberra, Monday, March 15, 2021. Lukas Coch/AAP

South Australian Independent Senator Rex Patrick has accused Premier Steven Marshall of “sleeping with the enemy” after the state leader spoke at the opening of a new Chinese consulate in Adelaide—where he was shouted down by hundreds of protestors.

Patrick, who spoke at the protest, expressed concerns about the national security implications of the controversial new Chinese consulate in the quiet suburb of Joslin, which is in the same city that is home to the country’s new $145 billion naval shipbuilding program.

“It’s not appropriate for Adelaide. It’s not appropriate for Joslin. It needs to go, and I will be making further representations in Canberra when Parliament resumes,” Patrick told The Epoch Times on March 30.

Independent Senator Rex Patrick speaks at a protest outside the new Chinese consulate in Adelaide, South Australia, on March 30, 2021. The Epoch Times

Patrick gave the example of Chinese consulate staff in the United States being arrested on indictable offenses relating to breaches of U.S. national security as a reason why Australia needed to recognise the risks involved in having such a large consular presence in Adelaide.

“There’s no doubt there are activities that will be taking place here [in Adelaide] that that are inconsistent with [Australia’s] national security,” he said.

Patrick accused Marshall of “rolling out the red carpet” for the Chinese regime while Beijing imposed trade restrictions on South Australian products, such as lobsters, grain, and wine.

“We have the premier of South Australia, Steven Marshall, rolling out the red carpet in circumstances where it’s just simply inappropriate,” Patrick said.

“He’s actually sleeping with the enemy,” he added.

After Beijing’s latest tariff on Australian wine, Prime Minister Scott Morrison said that it was “not okay” and labelled the move as “retaliation” for Australians standing up for their values.

READ MORE

• ‘Retaliation’ Is ‘Not Okay’: Aussie PM Rejects Beijing’s Wine Tariff

The tariffs were the latest example of what U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken last week labelled Beijing’s “blatant economic coercion” of Australia.

A number of communities held a rally to protest against the opening of the new Chinese consulate in Adelaide, South Australia, on March 30, 2021. Qianxi Li/The Epoch Times

Concern for Chinese Dissidents

Patrick also said he is “very worried” about the safety of Adelaide’s Uyghur Muslim community, given it is the largest in Australia.

Patrick named the Uyghur genocide, repression of freedom in Hong Kong, and the locking up of Australian journalists in mainland China as activities that the Chinese regime engages in that are inconsistent with Australian values.

His sentiments come after the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, and the European Union last week collaborated to impose Magnitsky-style sanctions on Chinese Communist Party (CCP) officials for the Uyghur genocide in Xinjiang, China.

While their allies took action to sanction Chinese officials, Australia and New Zealand offered a joint statement expressing their grave concerns about the severe human rights abuses against Uyghurs.

The senator was not alone in his sentiments, as over 300 people from groups targeted by the CCP, along with angry locals, protested from the sidewalk at the rear of the compound on Fifth Avenue.

The protest was joined by Falun Gong practitioners, Uyghur Muslims, and Tibetan Buddhists. Hong Kongers, Vietnamese, local Australian residents, politicians, and representatives of Australian farmers and industries impacted by Beijing’s trade restrictions also attended.

South Australian legislator Tammy Franks attended the protest outside the Chinese consulate in Adelaide, South Australia on March 30, 2021. Tracy Li/The Epoch Times

South Australian Greens Upper House legislator Tammy Franks spoke at the protest about the state-sanctioned crime of forced organ harvesting.

“I sat on a state Parliament committee that looked into organ harvesting,“ she told the crowd. ”I heard from members of the South Australian community who had family members who were imprisoned who had their organs harvested.”

In 2019, an independent people’s tribunal found, after a yearlong investigation, that the Chinese regime was harvesting the organs of prisoners of conscience—mainly Falun Gong practitioners—on a “significant scale.”

Falun Gong, also known as Falun Dafa, is an ancient Chinese spiritual practise consisting of simple, slow-moving meditation exercises and moral teachings incorporating the principles of truthfulness, compassion, and tolerance in everyday life. It grew in popularity during the 1990s, with 70 million to 100 million adherents in China by the end of the decade, according to official estimates at the time.

Feeling threatened by its popularity, the CCP launched a systematic elimination campaign in July 1999. Since then, millions have been detained inside prisons, labor camps, and other facilities, with hundreds of thousands tortured while incarcerated, according to Falun Dafa Information Center.

A general view of the Chinese consulate in Adelaide, South Australia, on March 30, 2021. The Epoch Times

Locals Angry at ‘Fortress’ in Suburb

The Australian reported that former Joslin resident Heather Adams returned to join her former neighbours in the protest.

The publication reported that Adams knew of no one who was happy that the consulate was there.

“Just look at the damned thing—it’s a fortress,” Adams said.

“I know people who have lived here for 40 years, and suddenly this monstrosity turns up with all its cameras and huge walls in a suburb where everyone else has to abide by planning laws because it’s a heritage area,” Adams said.

“We have sold our soul as a nation to a communist regime that is trying to destroy South Aussie businesses and has no regard for human rights,” she said.

The Australian reported that Marshall defended his decision to attend the opening of the consulate, saying that his state still had strong economic and cultural ties with China that he was trying to maintain for the good of South Australian businesses.