Mark McGowan blames ‘hostile’ China relationship on Morrison Government

Mark McGowan has laid blame for Australia’s “hostile and acrimonious” relationship with China at the doorstep of the Federal Government amid an escalating trade war with the Middle Kingdom. The Premier will also seek advice about reaching out to China’s top diplomat in Perth as WA farmers are once again caught in the crossfire of broader geopolitical tensions. The Asian superpower on Tuesday suspended barley imports from CBH Group, which is owned and operated by around 3900 Western Australian growers, in the latest blow to the Australian agriculture industry. In his strongest comments on the issue to-date, Mr McGowan said “hundreds of thousands” of West Australian jobs depended on a solid relationship with China. “The impact could be significant and it could mean that there is a significant reduction in income for many farmers and farming communities,” he told reporters in the Pilbara on Wednesday. “I just would urge the Commonwealth to repair the relationship with China as much as possible. We need to have a good relationship with our biggest customer. “We can't continue to have this hostile and acrimonious relationship. We spent 50 years building a strong relationship — we need to get back to that.” China has also slapped an 80 per cent tariff on Australian barley imports, suspended beef exports from five abattoirs and launched multiple investigations into Australian wine exports after the Federal Government led calls for an independent inquiry into the origins of coronavirus. Asked whether he was concerned about the potential impact on iron ore, which China relies on to make steel, Mr McGowan said he was concerned about “all of our exports”. “WA is a mining state, it's an export state, it's a trading state. So I have concerns about everything we do,” he said. “Our biggest trading partner by a country mile is China. We need to have good relationship. We need to be able to work out differences. We need to ensure that trade and social contact is separated from any diplomatic issues. That's the approach that the whole country needs to adopt.” Last year, WA exported $96.1 billion worth of goods to China. Of this, iron ore represented 82 per cent of all exports ($78.5 billion).