Chinese bidders blocked from leasing Sydney electricity grid
Print Edition
AUSTRALIA’S treasurer yesterday formally blocked Chinese bidders from leasing a Sydney electricity grid, saying the deal would not have been in the nation’s best interest.
The announcement by Treasurer Scott Morrison comes one week after he announced preliminary plans to ban Chinese state-owned State Grid Corp and Hong Kong-registered Cheung Kong Infrastructure Group from bidding for a 99-year lease over a 50.4 percent stake in Ausgrid due to “classified national security reasons.”
Morrison’s initial announcement prompted criticism from China and accusations from some in Australia that his decision was made to appease influential lawmakers with xenophobic views — a critique the treasurer has rejected as false.
“In making this decision, national interest concerns have been paramount,” Morrison said in a statement yesterday, without elaborating on what those concerns were.
China’s commerce ministry said in a statement on its website that the decision showed uncertainty in Australia’s investment environment and would seriously hurt the willingness of Chinese companies to invest in the country.
State Grid said it “found it hard to understand and deeply regretted” the decision, adding it had followed regulations set by Australia in its bid and met all the bidding requirements.
In a statement, Cheung Kong Infrastructure said it “reiterates that we believe the Australian federal government must have reasons beyond the obvious which led them to make the concerned decision and that the issue is unrelated to CKI. CKI is considering its options in regards to the situation.”
The deal for the New South Wales state-owned electricity network would have earned more than A$10 billion (US$7.6 billion). State Premier Mike Baird yesterday said he was irritated by Morrison’s decision, saying it would delay the sale.
“My frustration is that this should have been determined much earlier,” he told reporters. “What we need to do now is get on with the job.”
Last week, Bob Carr, director of the Sydney-based Australia-China Relations Institute and a former foreign minister, accused the treasurer of bowing to the wishes of anti-establishment lawmakers who gained from the country’s general election last month.
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