As Joni Mitchell put it: Funny how it always seems to go…

When something looked, “just not right” about the Proximal Origins paper, a scratch below the surface re Lipkin et al led to decades deep tendrils of CCP entanglement. So how about Victoria’s erstwhile Premier, Daniel Andrews?

Let’s google Daniel Andrews China - just see… Oh…

Daniel Andrews hits back on China deals…
Daniel Andrews Belt and Road rejected by …
Belt and Road Victoria China deal wasn’t seen by DFAT...

To put it politely, the first thing that jumps out at you is Dan’s raging boner for BRI (Belt and Road Initiative).

In 2018 Andrews announced he had signed the following contract with the CCP re BRI.
Here’s the title ‘writ large’:

MEMORANDUM OF UNDERSTANDING
BETWEEN
THE GOVERNMENT OF THE STATE OF VICTORIA
OF AUSTRALIA
AND THE NATIONAL DEVELOPMENT AND REFORM COMMISSION OF
THE REPUBLIC OF CHINA
COOPERATION WITHIN THE FRAMEWORK OF
THE SILK ROAD ECONOMIC BELT AND THE 21ST CENTURY MARITIME SILK ROAD INITIATIVE
(their uppercase, my bold)

The document waffles on for three pages. The opposition claimed that it’s big on generalizations but there are no details of what the fuck the deal actually involves.

But that’s not correct. The details are there. In fact they’re emphasised to the hilt.