“Other countries have taken a more neutral position – I understand the reasons for that[but] Australia hasn’t – we’re all in with Ukraine.
Loading
“But the Chinese government took a very different position,even to the point of continuing to go around trade embargoes that other countries were putting in for buying Russian wheat.
“Australia’s selling wheat into the world – when you’re buying Russian wheat rather than Australian wheat at a time when Russia is actually invading another country and committing war crimes,those things don’t line up for me and I don’t think for fair-minded,freedom-loving people.”
Wheat accounts for roughly half of Australia’s total grain production,according to the GrainGrowers State of the Australian Grains Industryreport 2021.
Russia is the world’s largest wheat exporter,accounting for 18 per cent of exports in the five years to 2020. This compares to Australia’s eight per cent of global share.
Ukraine made up 10 per cent of the world’s grain supply before the war and there are currently negotiations taking place between the UN,Russia,Ukraine and Turkey aimed at letting Ukrainian exports flow,amid concerns of rising wheat prices and hunger.
The war-torn country has also accused Russia of stealing its grain.
Morrison said Russia’s illegal invasion had implications outside Europe – a veiled reference to fears that Beijing could be inspired to move on Taiwan if Putin was successful or could break Western resolve.
Morrison stressed that Australia had no problem dealing with communist regimes,saying that it dealt well with Vietnam and that the difference with China was that it was behaving in an increasingly autocratic and assertive manner.
He said that while all countries should diversify their trade,Australia would continue to be dependent on Chinese exports.
“We were not in the economic containment of China club,that was not our purpose,it was not our goal,” he said during a question and answer session.
Loading
“Australia was a great beneficiary of our trading relationship with China ... I suspect it will long remain our biggest trading partner.”
In his prepared remarks to the forum,Morrison blamed the difficulties related to managing federalism and a cohesive response to the COVID-19 pandemic for his election loss.