Prime minister makes a strong pitch against the rise of protectionism around the world, saying the answer to sluggish growth is more economic integration

Malcolm Turnbull has shrugged off the possibility that China will raise foreign investment concerns as he travels to the G20 meeting in Hangzhou, declaring the Australian government decides who invests in this country, and China in its own domain.



After a bruising opening to the new parliament, the prime minister leaves this weekend for international summits, kicking off with the G20 in Hangzhou on Sunday, followed by the East Asian Summit in Vientiane, Laos, and then Micronesia for the Pacific Islands Forum.

Ahead of the China talks, Turnbull was asked whether he would talk to Xi Jinping about investment, given a host of recent knock-backs to foreign investment proposals, such as the Ausgrid electricity network privatisation in New South Wales, and the proposed sale of pastoral company Kidman and Co.

The prime minister said those transactions could well be raised, but everyone was clear where everyone stood. “Can I just say that the Chinese absolutely respect and understand that we have the total sovereign right to determine who invests in Australia and the terms on what they invest,” he told 3AW.

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“I have never taken a backwards step. The fact is that it’s entirely our decision.

“Look they can complain, they can say we would like you to have given us consent to invest in that or this or something else, that’s fine. They decide who invests in China; we decide who invests in Australia.”

Turnbull repeated that message in a separate interview with CNBC on Friday, and also made a strong pitch against the rise of protectionism around the world.

The G20 summit will include a session on trade on 5 September, and Turnbull is expected to contribute with what officials have characterised as “strong remarks” about the importance of open markets.

On CNBC, the prime minister said trade had transformed the economies of East Asia, and the answer to sluggish global growth was more economic integration, not a retreat into economic nationalism and protectionism.

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Turnbull said world leaders had to make the case for the benefits of trade liberalisation, but they also had to ensure that the benefits of open economies were distributed fairly.

In another sign the Coalition is heeding the message from the recent election, in which two protectionist blocs gained a foothold in the Australian Senate, the NXT and the One Nation party, Turnbull said there was a need to ensure the benefits of economic reform were inclusive, that people were “brought along” and were able to experience the transformational benefits of open economies.

His remarks on Friday followed a call by the International Monetary Fund for the leaders of big economies to make a positive case for globalisation. The IMF has voiced concern that prolonged slow growth and rising inequality are eroding public support for free trade and open markets.

Leaders will be asked at the G20 to reaffirm commitments to global growth. The IMF has warned that slower than expected growth in the US and the knock-on impact of Brexit are likely to result in a fresh downgrade of its forecasts for global activity in 2016.

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At the trade session, world leaders will look to strengthen the evidence base for the benefits of trade liberalisation and document the distributional impacts with a view to rebuilding public consensus for the open model. The G20 will also consider innovation, financial governance and tax transparency.

Ahead of the talks, the shadow assistant treasurer, Andrew Leigh, accused Turnbull of “schlep[ping] off to the G20 summit without a strong plan for confronting the global epidemic of tax avoidance by multinational companies”.

Leigh said the Coalition had “grandly promised to tackle multinational tax loopholes – but every year those promises are broken, forgotten or abandoned.”