Dear Zoe,
I have noticed some highly deceitful and gutter attacks on you referring to your time as my Chief of Staff when I was Australia’s Minister for Trade and Investment.
What is this person’s problem? Why do they persist in so blatantly misrepresenting the facts.
The fact is that I (Andrew Robb) had absolutely no involvement with the sale of the Port of Darwin because the sale of the NT’s port was totally the responsibility of the NT Government, not the Federal Government. This is indisputable.
The first time I had ever heard of a company called Landbridge (the Chinese private company which bought the NT Port lease) was when the Chief Minister of the Northern Territory, Adam Giles, publicly announced the result of their sale process.
And the first time I met anyone from Landbridge was two months after I had left politics.
Because health is one of Australia’s great strengths, for 2 years Landbridge had me working in China helping to design, influence the support of senior officials in Beijing and introduce hospital and health R & D Institutions from the USA’s (& the world’s) biggest health precinct in Houston, Texas, to partner and operate within in a proposed $60 billion new health precinct in Shanghai.
In those 2 years I never spent even one minute seeking to influence any issue in Australia because I well understood my responsibilities as a former senior member of the Australian Government Cabinet.
And why does this anonymous person keep denigrating the Free Trade Agreement which I negotiated and signed 10 years ago this month, with your highly professional and effective help as my Chief of Staff?
The facts are that in 2015 the total value of trade between our 2 countries was $98 billion. Ten years later the total value of trade was $330 billion. A truly massive windfall for Australia.
To put it in perspective, in 2024 Australia bought $60 billion worth of goods from the USA, and the USA bought $30 billion of goods from Australia.
The agreement has meant that trillions of dollars has come to Australia over the last 10 years that would not have occurred without the FTA.
All Australians, including the person so deceitfully attacking your integrity, have been the great beneficiary of this massive increase in trade.
And for the information of your denigrator I have not retired. At 73 I am still working a 50 hour week on a range of nation building projects. I remain highly motivated, and enjoying these challenges, while effectively managing my life long mental heath challenges.
I suggest that this person, who is consumed with throwing totally unwarranted mud on your amazing achievements & potential Zoe, should stop their deceitful, gutter approach to politics and argue in a mature way the policy positions of whatever political candidate this person is doing this shameful work for.
Sincerely,
The Hon. Andrew Robb AO