David Farrar: Hipkins demands Peters is sacked for telling the truth

Winston Peters in Radio NZ referred to former Australian Foreign Minister Bob Carr (who is an opponent of AUKUS) as being very close to China (but more bluntly and significantly).

Bob Carr has threatened defamation and this has led to Hysterical Hipkins to demand Winston Peters be sacked.

Possibly HH should have read this article by the Australian Review that details the relationship between Carr and China. One extract:

The institutional origins of Carr’s China-whatever approach can be found in the history of ACRI. In 2014 a prominent Chinese businessman in Sydney made a significant donation to UTS to establish a new China institute. The same donor subsequently boasted in public that he personally selected Carrto run the operation. Carr emerged as Australia’s most prominent and vocal public advocate for Xi Jinping’s China.

Another article elaborates:

Unlike other university-based think tanks, such as the United States Studies Centre at the University of Sydney, ACRI has never produced an annual report nor does it publicly disclose its budget and financial expenditures. The university now claims to “fully fund” the institute; yet the Bank of China, the China Construction Bank, Yuhu Group, and other Chinese companies are listed as “Chairman’s Council Members” under a description of how ACRI is funded.

Who is paying for the transmission of “China’s voice” in Australia? Is it UTS, the All-China Journalist Association, Xinhua or even the Propaganda Department of the Chinese Communist Party? Because ACRI hasn’t disclosed any of its finances, we don’t know who is paying for the trips it organises.

I would be very very surprised of Carr actually sues, and Hipkins looks very foolish for backing Carr against NZ’s Foreign Minister.

David Farrar runs Curia Market Research, a specialist opinion polling and research agency, and the popular Kiwiblog where this article was sourced. He previously worked in the Parliament for eight years, serving two National Party Prime Ministers and three Opposition Leaders.