Perth’s new apartment market recorded its strongest quarter of sales since Q4 2021, with 412 apartments sold in Q1 2026 and a record quarterly sold value of $537 million, according to Urbis’ latest Apartment Essentials results.

Urbis said the March quarter result reflects strong, highly product‑specific demand across both ends of the market, from more attainable projects delivering at scale, through to premium stock being absorbed by equity‑rich downsizers.&nbsp;

David Cresp, Partner at Urbis, said the key story in Perth is not demand, it is the market’s ability to convert demand into delivered housing.&nbsp;

“This is the strongest sales quarter since Q4 2021, and it reinforces that demand in Perth is real and it’s local,” David Cresp said. “But the task now is delivery, turning that demand into projects that can actually be built and completed.”&nbsp;

[smartcode_project:default project_id=110291 project_image_fid=302785]

<h2>Affordable product leads, premium demand remains resilient</h2>

Sales in Q1 were led by more affordable projects, with The Boulevard (SKS Group) recording 115 sales in the quarter, the presentation noting this is only the second time a single project has surpassed 100 quarterly sales. The project was able to offer more affordable housing product right next to a train station.&nbsp;

Palmyra West (Finbar) also delivered strong results with 28 sales in Q1, following 84 sales in Q4, with an average price of under $800,000, underscoring depth of demand for well‑located, attainable new stock.&nbsp;

At the premium end, Urbis said downsizer demand is continuing, with the results highlighting Romeo (Applecross, Finbar) recording 75 sales and reaching almost 50% sold in one quarter.

Jual (Shenton Park, Celsius Property) also posted a strong quarter with 28 sales, reaching 39% sold in one quarter.

Urbis noted that Perth apartment demand is not speculative, not investor‑led, and not uniform, describing it as localised, often equity‑driven and highly product‑specific, a pattern reflected in the polarisation between strong “attainable” performers and premium downsizer product.&nbsp;

[smartcode_project:default project_id=148957 project_image_fid=364102]

<h2>Prices underpinned by costs, and the delivery risk is growing</h2>

Urbis said pricing pressure is cost not demand‑driven: construction costs and delivery risk are now a central constraint, with the results noting build costs remain elevated and volatile, and that energy, fuel and labour uncertainty weigh on feasibility.

David Cresp said a growing challenge for private Build‑to‑Sell developers is simply securing a builder in the current environment.

“Developers are really feeling the pressure from a building market that was operating at capacity and securing a builder is challenging,” David Cresp said, adding that even where a builder can be secured, “trying to get to the price that makes the development financially viable is incredibly challenging in the current market.”&nbsp;

Urbis’ broader WA commentary also notes that industry remains at or above capacity with lot and housing creation, and that many builders are limiting new sales to manage stretched workforces and fixed‑price contract pressures, conditions that flow directly into apartment feasibility and delivery timing.

[smartcode_project:default project_id=108869 project_image_fid=317905]

<h2>Supply: improving later, but still constrained, and Perth lags eastern benchmarks</h2>

While near‑term supply remains constrained, Urbis’ forecast shows completions lifting “Supply is forecast to be back above 1,500 apartments per annum for the first time since 2019”, with 1,775 completions forecast for 2026, and volumes remaining above that level over the following years.&nbsp;

Looking further ahead, completions are forecast to reach 2,500 in 2028, with the report noting 32% of that total is social/affordable, reflecting the role of government‑supported delivery in rebuilding the pipeline.&nbsp;

However, Urbis said Perth remains behind comparable markets on pipeline scale. In a national comparison of projects under construction, the report shows under construction Perth Build‑to‑Sell (BTS) at 3,446 apartments versus the Gold Coast at 7,922. Mr Cresp said “The challenge for Perth is how to we grow the delivery pipeline”.

Urbis’ conclusion is that Perth’s market is increasingly defined by product discipline and delivery certainty, with the research identifying “delivery certainty is key” and calling out builder risk and procurement models as core success factors, alongside “timing and staging”.&nbsp;

Joel Robinson

Perth apartment sales hit strongest pace since late 2021 as builder capacity tightens

<a href="https://www.apartments.com.au/developers/sammut-developments">Sammut Group</a> has secured development approval for its latest Brisbane apartment project, marking the Sydney developer’s next step in expanding its Queensland pipeline following the success of its debut Gold Coast development, Coast.

The approved project at <a href="https://www.apartments.com.au/new-apartments/44-glen-road-toowong-qld-4066">44 Glen Road, </a><a href="https://www.apartments.com.au/developments/toowong-qld-4066">Toowong</a> will deliver a 15-storey riverfront apartment building with 42 residences, significantly increasing the scale of the site’s previous approval for a smaller luxury scheme. Designed by Bureau^proberts, the development will comprise a mix of predominantly four-bedroom and two-bedroom apartments positioned to maximise Brisbane River and city views.

Sammut Director Julian Sammut said the group had been actively searching Brisbane for several years before identifying Toowong as the right fit.

“Brisbane was the right step for Sammut,” Sammut said.

“With the success of Coast we thought we should definitely look to do more in Queensland alone. We then pushed up to look at Brisbane. We've been looking for I'd say two to three years actually and it was hard to find the right location.”

<img alt="Sammut makes Brisbane apartment play" data-entity-type="" data-entity-uuid="" src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dz9xllyip/image/fetch/f_auto,c_limit,w_1440,q_75/https://s3.ap-southeast-2.amazonaws.com/www.urban.com.au/s3fs-public/field/image/Screenshot%202025-12-23%20at%203.27.14%E2%80%AFPM.png?VersionId=dYAVIL7qdcGA8ojvkslSrLjczXFejSSx" />

Sammut said suburbs including New Farm and Teneriffe were considered before the group ultimately focused on Toowong due to its strong downsizer demographic and limited supply of developable riverfront land.

The site was acquired off-market after what Sammut described as a lengthy negotiation and planning process, with the developer pursuing an uplift to the original approval.

“We are DA approved now which is very exciting,” Sammut said.

“We've had our change approval come through and we've obviously doubled the height, 15 storeys plus rooftop. We've got 42 amazing apartments that are going to be coming to market soon.”

<img alt="Sammut makes Brisbane apartment play" data-entity-type="" data-entity-uuid="" src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dz9xllyip/image/fetch/c_scale,w_580,dpr_2.0,q_auto:good/https://s3.ap-southeast-2.amazonaws.com/www.urban.com.au/s3fs-public/inline-images/Screenshot%202025-12-23%20at%203.27.26%E2%80%AFPM.png?VersionId=ohkRkY0dIZlqdfME2EZePsCQavRiBadE" />

Bureau^proberts said the design responds to Toowong’s evolving urban character, balancing contemporary apartment living with the area’s established residential identity.

“A place where traditional Queensland living has taken place for centuries; Toowong is seeing a shift of contemporary influence, commercial and retail hubs mixed with well-considered residential offerings – all the while maintaining its character and charm,” the architect noted in planning documents submitted to Brisbane City Council.

The architecture practice said the project’s form was shaped by its riverfront setting, flood considerations, neighbouring building scales, and view corridors.

“They said the mix of four and two-bedroom apartments capture the ‘fundamental qualities of Queenslander living,’ translated into the context of a contemporary subtropical building.”

The development sits just off Coronation Drive within walking distance of Toowong’s retail precinct and the upgraded Regatta ferry terminal, while also benefiting from proximity to the incoming green bridge connection to West End. Sammut said the accessibility and amenity offering were central to the site’s appeal.

The approval adds to growing residential activity along the Toowong riverfront, joining nearby projects including Consolidated Properties’ Monarch Residences and Spyre Group’s ARC Residences.

Sammut secures approval for debut Brisbane apartment development in Toowong

Developer Lanevick is heading back into Sydney’s apartment market after focusing more heavily on the luxury townhouse and terrace sector in recent years.

Lanevick, founded and directed by Steve Maroun, is expecting to receive approval in the coming months for a new apartment development in Gladesville, with the aim to launch it to the market later this year.

The 51-apartment project, designed by Studio Johnston, will comprise a mix of one-, two-, and three-bedroom apartments positioned toward the Hunters Hill downsizer market.

“Traditionally it’s been difficult for people in that market to downsize because there just hasn’t been the right product available,” Maroun said.

“We’re targeting buyers who might have 30 to 40 per cent of their house value sitting in the bank after downsizing.

“They still want good spacious entertaining areas, they still want quality design, but they also want flexibility and the ability to enjoy life a bit more after working hard for a long time.”

The project sits near Boronia Park and within close proximity to the Parramatta River foreshore, an area Maroun says offers more of a Hunters Hill lifestyle than a traditional apartment precinct.

“From a lifestyle perspective, it’s really more Hunters Hill than Gladesville,” Maroun said. “You’re close to the foreshore, close to parklands, and still connected back into the village precinct.”

From level four and above, apartments will capture water views&nbsp;toward Sydney Harbour. Communal amenity will include rooftop entertaining areas, wellness spaces, and a gym tailored toward owner-occupier buyers.

“We’ve really designed these apartments around that buyer coming from the Hunters Hill LGA and what they’re actually looking for in their next chapter.”

The proposed development has also been designed to respond to the changing character of the broader Gladesville town centre, where a growing number of mixed-use and residential proposals are expected to emerge over the coming years.

“Gladesville presented a rare opportunity to deliver a genuinely design-led residential project within an evolving lifestyle precinct, just moments from the growing Gladesville town centre, and we’ve approached the project with a strong focus on architecture, liveability and long-term community value,” Maroun said.

Maroun said Lanevick saw a first-mover advantage within the precinct as planning controls continue to evolve to accommodate greater housing density.

“We think there’s a real opportunity there that hasn’t really been serviced properly yet,” he said.

“There’s going to be a broader evolution of the whole Gladesville village precinct over time, particularly with more activation and mixed-use outcomes.”

The Venus Street proposal will include a commercial and retail component at ground level designed to contribute to that evolving streetscape activation.

“A big part of the thinking was how do you activate that area properly and create more vibrancy and amenity, which is what Hunters Hill has been looking for,” Maroun said.

Lanevick’s focus since 2020 has largely been on smaller-scale luxury townhouse and terrace developments. The developer recently completed Royale Randwick, also designed by Studio Johnston, where prices reached $3.65 million. The project was featured in the UDIA NSW 2026 Professional Development Prospectus and was also named a finalist for Development of the Year.

&nbsp;

Lanevick to cater for Hunters Hill downsizers with new Gladesville apartment development

Property developer One Living, backed by former Macquarie banker turned investment manager Chris Green’s investment firm, has unveiled plans to bring more institutional capital into housing to help address the national supply crisis.

The New York-based investor has focused his firm, GreenPoint Partners, on addressing the supply shortage hitting middle market housing in Australia.

It is backing the new One Living business to develop more than 1000 units along the eastern seaboard. The new firm is starting with a development on Mona Vale Road, on the border of Mona Vale and Pymble, in Sydney’s Northern Beaches, with around 140 apartments planned. They are eyeing off more sites across the city.

With cost pressures rising in the industry, One Living’s model is to be a vertically integrated developer-builder, so it can respond directly to the housing gap by removing the cost inefficiencies embedded in traditional residential delivery.

“We are building a platform designed to operate at scale and starting in a market where there’s a clear need for quality, attainable housing,” One Living joint managing director Joseph Scuderi said.

“It’s that missing middle – it’s that attainable end of housing… that’s what most Australians invest into and what Australians can actually afford.”

<img alt="Mona Vale" data-entity-type="file" data-entity-uuid="798dfa93-4941-4db6-a696-31e9dc18e81c" src="https://s3.ap-southeast-2.amazonaws.com/www.urban.com.au/s3fs-public/inline-images/Screenshot%202026-05-28%20at%202.31.50%E2%80%AFPM.png?VersionId=mKBqi5C_DmeiXS.AtJkcR8LQIxqCqmFi" />

GreenPoint Partners brings years of experience assembling and scaling real estate operating businesses across major markets. And Green sees a big opportunity in Australia.

“For its size, sophistication and importance to the community, Australia’s living sector has remained largely under-institutionalised, which represents significant opportunity,” Green said. “GreenPoint identified that gap, assembled the right team, and is backing One Living to build a platform that is aligned to market needs.”

Green said being a builder-developer would give the company the capacity and flexibility it required to deliver reasonably-priced homes.

“We want it to be at that attainable level; not super high end luxury but at that attainable level,” he said.

<img alt="Mona Vale" data-entity-type="file" data-entity-uuid="74a5344a-4b26-4d4a-ada3-056b1220be77" src="https://s3.ap-southeast-2.amazonaws.com/www.urban.com.au/s3fs-public/inline-images/Screenshot%202026-05-28%20at%202.32.15%E2%80%AFPM.png?VersionId=vY8hXHO4reBMdO8ZXMWCNtGZJofUPQ3j" />

&nbsp;

One Living will undertake a component of affordable housing in its schemes, which it will own and operate, and it could also run build-to-rent on some sites.

Green praised local policy settings.

“The NSW government is being very supportive, strategic and pragmatic in terms of how do we generate more supply of housing,” he said. “We think it’s actually positive for development and the bit that’s been lacking at that attainable level is that it’s lots of relatively small private developers, whereas we want to create an institutional platform.”

One Living is also&nbsp;looking at high-density projects and could take on more institutional funding in the future.

“The way we will be able to achieve economies of scale is through size,” Green added.

One Living enters Sydney's new apartment market with Northern Beaches site acquisition

It's been several years since there's been an opportunity to buy a brand new townhome in Melbourne's coastal suburb of Mordialloc. Even apartment developments in recent times have been few and far between in the area.

Local developer LDS Property identified the gap in new housing, securing a site on White Street, directly opposite&nbsp;Woodlands Golf Club Mordialloc. They've recently launched&nbsp;<a href="https://www.apartments.com.au/new-townhouses/wm-residences-mordialloc-102-white-street-mordialloc-vic-3195">WM Residences</a>, just 13 townhouses which they have already started building.

Projects by Buxton Director Heath Thompson, who is selling WM Residences, says the townhouses x that perfect middle ground be

"Mordialloc residents have had limited options to downsize within the suburb, often forcing them to look elsewhere despite long-standing ties to the area," Thompson says.

"With very little comparable new supply coming to market, projects like WM Residences are well placed, particularly as buyers look to capitalise on current conditions amid constrained supply."

[smartcode_project:default project_id=134646 project_image_fid=6109]

The development, designed by regarded architecture firm&nbsp;<a href="https://www.apartments.com.au/architects/ewert-leaf">Ewert Leaf</a>,&nbsp;adopts a deliberately restrained architectural approach, focusing on simplicity, durability and liveability rather than overt design gestures.

The boutique scale is central to the offering. With only 13 three-bedroom residences, each home is configured to prioritise functional layouts and everyday use, supported by private terraces and secure two-car garages.

Ewert Leaf’s design response leans into a calm, neutral material palette. Interiors are defined by oak flooring, white walls and soft finishes, creating a consistent and understated backdrop. The approach avoids trend-driven detailing in favour of longevity, with an emphasis on natural light and spatial clarity.

[smartcode_project:default project_id=134646 project_image_fid=6110]

Beyond aesthetics, the homes are designed to meet contemporary performance expectations. Each residence targets a minimum 6-star energy rating, incorporating double glazing, comprehensive insulation and all-electric Bosch appliances.

The project’s location supports a walkable coastal lifestyle, sitting within close proximity to Mordialloc’s foreshore, Main Street retail strip and the train station. Local cafés and dining venues, including Suburbia Deli and Hendriks Café, are within a short walk, reinforcing the area’s established neighbourhood character.

[smartcode_project:default project_id=134646 project_image_fid=6116]

While <a href="https://www.apartments.com.au/developments/mordialloc-vic-3195">Mordialloc</a> is often defined by its beach and pier, the project taps into other areas of day to day living, offering easy access to local food, casual dining and transport, rather than positioning itself purely as a lifestyle retreat.

WM Residences reflects a continued trend across Melbourne’s coastal suburbs towards smaller-scale, design-led townhouse developments, particularly on infill sites where proximity to amenity is already established.

With construction commenced prior to its market entry, the project aligns with a growing preference among buyers for developments with visible progress and defined delivery timeframes.

[smartcode_project_cta:default project_id=134646]

WM Residences fills gap in Mordialloc townhouse market

China

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EXPERT OBSERVER
To date, the USA has close to 100 deaths due to coronavirus, Italy has more than 1,100, Iran has more than 600, Korea has more than 70 deaths. Australia now has 3.
Meanwhile, China is reported to have contained the coronavirus, achieving what many public health experts thought was impossible: containing the spread of a widely circulating respiratory virus.
Having spent my time in China for a month early this year and seeing it with my own eyes, I think China has rolled out the most ambitious and extreme disease containment effort in history.
Perhaps the most dramatic effort was the lockdown of Wuhan city and nearly the entire Hubei province, effectively putting at least 50 million people under a mandatory quarantine since 23rd Jan. This prevented further exportation of infected individuals to the rest of the country/world. In other regions of China, people voluntarily quarantined themselves and were monitored by appointed leaders in the neighbourhood.
In February, Chinese authorities also built two dedicated hospitals in Wuhan in 10 days. Health care workers from all over China were sent to Wuhan, where more than 1,800 medical teams traced tens of thousands of contacts of confirmed cases.
Sports events were cancelled, cinemas were shut, schools and universities extended breaks, businesses closed down, people stayed at home and when they had to go outdoors (to do shopping etc) everyone had to wear a mask.
In contrast, despite the stimulus package, Scott Morrison has been encouraging people to keep attending mass gatherings as coronavirus continues to spread in Australia... until Peter Dutton gets it.
China has moved on. Close to 70,000 people were treated and recovered. Many of the hospital beds are now empty. China is eyeing "new infrastructure" projects to offset the economic impact of the coronavirus, and boost sustainable growth, e.g. accelerate the construction of new infrastructure such as 5G networks and data centres.
Instead of simply turning to the old playbook of investment stimulus, it is widely believed that China should promote a new round of infrastructure construction through reform and innovation.
Investors have already jumped on the bandwagon. In China's A-share market, stocks related to 5G networks, industrial internet, inter-city transit systems, vehicle charging stations and data centers -- all considered as new infrastructure -- saw continued fund inflows, with exchange-traded funds linked to these shares registering gains in the past weeks.
While policy incentives have guided market funds into the sector, the Chinese government is also expected to encourage new infrastructure via special bonds, public-private partnerships and credit support. About 714.8 billion CNY ($152.7 billion AUD) of special-purpose bonds were issued in January, 10 times the amount of general bonds issued.
So how is this going to impact the Australian economy?
Well, China is Australia's biggest trading partner mainly due to China's strong demand for iron ore, coal and liquefied natural gas. Many major Australian mining companies rely heavily on China. Australia's GDP growth could be reduced by 50% in a worst case scenario of China reducing its demand for Australia's exports.
Simply put, if China's economy crashes then Australia will be hit hard.
With China's new round of infrastructure construction, Australia will be one of the major beneficiaries, economy-wise. This could mean a contribution of $200 billion worth of imports and exports to the Australian economy, just like 2017-18.
Industry sectors such as education and tourism might still continue to suffer because of flight restrictions. However, flights might not be needed for cross-border property purchases. There might be a drop-off in open for inspection and auction attendance, but Chinese buyers do not have to come to Australia to purchase properties.
In my Chinese social media WeChat, I can see at least 20 people (buyers, that is) showing off their property purchases in Australia, while they are physically in China. They included private sales, off-the-plan or nominee sales, and "remote auction" - asking their friends/family to attend auctions on their behalf.
This trend will probably continue in the months to come. At GiFang, we will be sending further messages to our 200,000+ Chinese subscribers that if they require 'buyer assistance', we can act as an intermediary between them (no matter where they are) and the Australian agents, on properties listed on GiFang.com.
Michael Yang 杨霄羽 is the CEO of <a href="http://www.gifang.com" target="_blank">GiFang</a>.
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MichaelYang-M4BCtFfzCh

Post coronavirus how will China's economy impact Australia: GiFang's Michael Yang

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A Liverpool commercial office building has sold for $52.5 million to an investment group from China.
It's the highest every property sale in Liverpool.
The block at <a href="https://www.commercialrealestate.com.au/property/211-northumberland-street-liverpool-nsw-2170-2015756170" target="_blank" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://protect-au.mimecast.com/s/AHqZC81V1xhLWOxAH1SEax?domain%3Decomms.raywhite.com&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1582841778809000&amp;usg=AFQjCNH5OYxNT7pmwSwsJ8ZhzeH-0V16nw">211 Northumberland Street</a> was originally purchased by vendors ESR Australia as part of the Denison Portfolio, that also included a building in Campbelltown.
It was sold fully leased to the NSW Government Department – Family and Community Services – until 2022, with 7,645 sqm of net lettable area.
The building sold with an initial yield of 6.6 per cent, producing just over $3.45 million per annum.
Ray White Commercial Western Sydney agents Peter Vines and Victor Sheu secured the sale, in conjunction with Colliers International's James Barber, Frank Oliveri and John McCann.
Vines said the property was one of Centrelink’s most concentrated multi-service centres across Australia.   “We had a huge amount of interest throughout the campaign with more than 120 enquiries coming from multiple demographics,” he said. 
“With Parramatta currently booming, investors are seeking the next hot spot and given its proximity to the new airport and billions of dollars being invested in infrastructure in the South West, Liverpool is a very good option.”   Sheu said the property was an impressive commercial asset investment that came with value add potential.
“The property is a four-level commercial building that was completed in circa. 2000 and has two levels of security basement parking,” Sheu said.   “The asset offers large efficient floor plates that are light-filled and flexible. The plates are highly desirable to Government tenants with a strong retention history.   “Being in the Liverpool CBD, it provides easy access to the M5 motorway, Hume Highway and arterial roads. It’s also close to the Westfield shopping facilities.”
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wdavis-8cCN98p7xp

Chinese investment group pays $52.5 million for Liverpool office building

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A Sydney real estate agent is being questioned by police in China after allegedly fleeing the city with his two sons before his wife was found dead in a freezer.
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<div class="s">It is understood the 36-year-old Haoling Luo had been living in Australia since 2010 before moving to Pymble with his wife and sons in 2016.</div>
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<div class="s">He paid $906,000 for the two bedroom apartment in the 2008 built Arboria complex (top).</div>
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<div class="s">Luo received his real estate licence in mid-2018 and was selling houses in the Upper North Shore.</div>
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<div class="s">Neighbours said on Sunday night they heard an argument in which furniture was being thrown, the ABC reported.</div>
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<div class="s">The body was found on Wednesday, the day after Luo fled to China with the couple's two kids.</div>
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j.ballantyne1990-6AQqhLzZaK

Sydney real estate agent questioned by police in China after wife found dead in a freezer

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GUEST OBSERVATION
The Australian government has indicated that “diaspora communities” are crucial to Australia’s public diplomacy mission to promote the country abroad. It has also identified online and social media as essential “public diplomacy tools”.
But in terms of projecting an attractive image of Australia to potential tourists, students and investors in China, the task is not that simple.
Too often, the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade’s earnest soft power goals are undermined by various political agendas and <a href="https://www.propertyobserver.com.au/https://www.abc.net.au/news/2019-08-18/chinese-influence-on-australian-universities-worrying-mps-say/11425276" target="_blank">concerns over foreign interference</a> and <a href="https://www.propertyobserver.com.au/https://www.abc.net.au/news/2019-10-14/chinese-communist-party-gtcom-connection-australian-universities/11586118" target="_blank">national security</a>.
As for the media, the ABC has attempted to connect with Chinese audiences by <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/chinese/" target="_blank">offering</a> some of its online content in Mandarin. But the ABC’s coverage can still feel alienating to Chinese migrants. This stems from a feeling that <a href="https://insidestory.org.au/is-the-biggest-story-getting-the-best-coverage/" target="_blank">much of its reporting</a> conforms to a pre-determined narrative of the danger of China’s rising influence in the country.
What Chinese migrants think of Australia
The role of Chinese migrants in public diplomacy, meanwhile, is little understood.
Earlier this year, we conducted a survey of more than 800 Australia-based, Mandarin-speaking social media users as part of a <a href="https://ozchinamedia.org/" target="_blank">study</a> of Chinese-language digital and social media in Australia.
Our aim was to determine how Chinese migrants view both Australia and China, how news coverage of both countries shapes these views, and whether they feel they have a role to play in promoting either country.
We asked participants whether they have generally positive views about their experience of living or studying in Australia and how often they share these views with potential Chinese visitors or migrants to Australia.
Perhaps surprisingly, our survey respondents answered with a resounding “yes”, despite the alienation they sometimes feel from English-language media and a sense their allegiance to Australia is regularly being questioned.
When asked how often they share <a href="https://www.sydneytoday.com/content-101731470828011" target="_blank">positive stories</a> about Australia via Chinese social media platforms, 72% of respondents said they often or sometimes shared such information.
A similar level of pro-Australian sentiment was evident when participants were asked how often they share negative stories about Australia from the local Chinese media or English-language media. (For example, stories about the high cost of living, <a href="https://www.sydneytoday.com/content-101728755134800" target="_blank">racism against Chinese</a> or the boring lifestyle.) Nearly 77% said they rarely or never share such stories.
When asked with whom they share positive or negative stories about Australia, nearly two-thirds said “Chinese people living in China”, while 28% said Chinese immigrants living elsewhere in the world.
Interestingly, our survey participants’ willingness to promote Australia to Chinese people worldwide did not mean they had negative views about China. Nearly 80% said they would also be willing to promote China to Australians as a tourist destination or potential place for business opportunities.
Not overly pro-China on sensitive issues
This speaks to the ability of Chinese migrants to sustain dual loyalties to Australia and China, without much apparent conflict between the two.
Our respondents also showed a considerable degree of sophistication in their views on China–Australia relations and issues the Australian media typically present in a polarising manner. When asked whether they sided with China or Australia on these issues, we saw an interesting split.
For example, a significant number of participants said they sided with China in relation to disputes over Huawei (73%) and the South China Sea (79%). However, support for China was dramatically lower in relation to China’s influence in Australia (40%), trade disputes (38%) and, perhaps most surprisingly to many Australians, human rights (just 22%).
Even though they didn’t back China on these last four issues, participants didn’t give their unambiguous support to the Australian viewpoint, either. The number of respondents who chose “not sure” on these four issues ranged between 32% and 45%.
Human rights was the only issue where more respondents sided with the Australian viewpoint rather than China’s (46% compared to 22%).
Negative news on China leads to unhappiness
Similarly, when respondents were asked how they felt about negative news about China or the Chinese government in the Australian media, they expressed a range of opinions.
Respondents were nearly equally split on the fairness of such reporting, with 27% saying they felt the Western media portrayed China in an overly negative light and 22% saying they felt such reporting allowed them to know the truth about China.
The most popular response, however, was telling: 35% of participants said they felt unhappy because of the hostility of the Australian media to China, regardless of whether or not the reporting was truthful.
This suggests that while most Chinese-Australians are generally supportive of Australia, the mainstream media’s narrow focus on China’s influence seems to impact negatively on their happiness and overall feeling of connectedness with Australian society.
What this means for public diplomacy
Overall, Chinese migrants in Australia are spreading a positive message about the country voluntarily. They do so without any support from the Australian government, and despite the often negative reporting about China in the Australian media and hyperbolic public aspersions cast on them.
Based on our findings, it would behove the Australian government to try and find ways to harness this largely bottom-up, pro-Australian, word-of-mouth energy in the service of public diplomacy.
This is especially important now, given the dire state of diplomatic relations between our two countries.<img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/126677/count.gif?distributor=republish-lightbox-basic" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" style="border: none !important; box-shadow: none !important; margin: 0 !important; max-height: 1px !important; max-width: 1px !important; min-height: 1px !important; min-width: 1px !important; opacity: 0 !important; outline: none !important; padding: 0 !important; text-shadow: none !important;">
Wanning Sun, Professor of Media and Cultural Studies, University of Technology Sydney.
This article is republished from <a href="http://theconversation.com" target="_blank">The Conversation</a> under a Creative Commons license. Read the <a href="https://theconversation.com/new-research-shows-chinese-migrants-dont-always-side-with-china-and-are-happy-to-promote-australia-126677" target="_blank">original article</a>.
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New research shows Chinese migrants don’t always side with China and are happy to promote Australia

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GUEST OBSERVATION
By 2017, <a href="https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/sp.urb.totl.in.zs" target="_blank">58% of Chinese people were living in cities</a>. This is much less than the 79% for Western Europe and 86% for Australia, but China is undergoing very rapid urbanisation, as the chart below shows. It is expected <a href="https://population.un.org/wup/Country-Profiles" target="_blank">70% of China’s population will be living in cities</a> between 2035 and 2045.
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/274487/original/file-20190515-60541-o2m5r7.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=45&amp;auto=format&amp;w=1000&amp;fit=clip"><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/274487/original/file-20190515-60541-o2m5r7.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=45&amp;auto=format&amp;w=754&amp;fit=clip" alt=""></a>
<a class="source" href="https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/urbanization-last-500-years?time=1500..2016" target="_blank">Source: OWID based on UN World Urbanisation Prospects 2018 and historical sources</a>
In response to these trends, the Chinese government released <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1876610216315818" target="_blank">a national urbanisation plan (2014-2020)</a>, with a focus on the quality of Chinese urbanisation and public spaces. So the policymakers’ concern is not solely with the economic development of China’s cities but also a healthier built environment and increased well-being for its citizens.
In addition to growing population pressures, Chinese cities face battles with pollution and climate change. Furthermore, <a href="https://www.thoughtco.com/tourism-development-in-china-1434412" target="_blank">China is now the third-most-visited country</a>, behind France and the United States. No doubt the country’s growing tourism industry is an important driver for developing better cities.
The <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/23812346.2018.1457297" target="_blank">rise of private public partnership projects</a> and growing private interests in China’s built environment also call for a fresh look at urban design. Connecting urban planning and architecture, public spaces and private buildings, metropolitan scale and street scale, urban design can help to balance private interests and public needs while developing urban areas.
If those challenges are quite recent for China, they have been experienced, tested and theorised in Western countries for the past two centuries. Thus there might be an interest in learning from Western urban design principles, both to draw inspiration from the good practices and to avoid repeating the mistakes.
Urban design is well established in Australia
Some major Chinese cities such as Guangzhou and Shanghai have recently created their own urban design guidelines. However, many Chinese cities don’t have any.
In Australia the situation is quite different. Urban design theory and practices are well grounded. More than 20 guidelines have been published since the 2000s at all levels of government.
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/277297/original/file-20190530-69087-pgelaf.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=45&amp;auto=format&amp;w=1000&amp;fit=clip"><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/277297/original/file-20190530-69087-pgelaf.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=45&amp;auto=format&amp;w=754&amp;fit=clip" alt=""></a>
Urban design guidelines in Australia at federal, state and local government level. Lucile Jacquot, 2019, Author provided
The diversity of Australian guidelines means that urban design research is very active and responsive to the evolution of technologies, lifestyles and expectations. Also, the outcomes are often considered successful – Australian cities usually do well in rankings of urban quality of life. For example, Melbourne, Adelaide and Sydney are consistently ranked in the top ten of the <a href="https://pages.eiu.com/rs/753-RIQ-438/images/The_Global_Liveability_Index_2018.pdf" target="_blank">Global Liveability Index</a>.
Good examples of urban design are also acknowledged in Australia – for example, through the annual <a href="https://urbandesignawards.com.au/" target="_blank">Australian Urban Design Awards</a>. The recognition of best practices and fostering of healthy competition create a rich urban design culture.
How can Chinese cities be improved?
Dalian is a good example of an emerging city in China. Its location between the sea and the mountains and its rich colonial heritage make it a major tourist destination. Nevertheless, the experience of Dalian’s urban spaces could be improved in many ways.
Firstly, one of the main goals of urban design is to provide adequate public facilities such as pedestrian pathways, sitting areas and public toilets. In Dalian, an increase in such facilities could encourage the city’s residents to make more use of the public space. Similarly, shaded areas and water fountains could make public spaces more liveable, no matter the hour of the day or the weather.
Secondly, installing such facilities is not enough on its own to make the city engaging and attractive. Dalian’s urban spaces are quite monochromatic and a more vibrant cityscape could improve the overall ambience of the city. One way to achieve this would be through the use of different colours, textures and materials to define spatial difference between private and public space, and create new pedestrian experiences.
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/280121/original/file-20190619-118539-12oz5sn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=45&amp;auto=format&amp;w=1000&amp;fit=clip"><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/280121/original/file-20190619-118539-12oz5sn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=45&amp;auto=format&amp;w=754&amp;fit=clip" alt=""></a>
The differences in urban design of pedestrian squares in Dalian (left) and Melbourne are clear. Images: K. Dupré (left), L. Jacquot (right), Author provided
Lastly, the main purpose of designing the look and feel of a city is to engage people with their surroundings. The urban space not only has to cater for all types of people and their needs, but also to provide safe socialising opportunities.
In Dalian, providing more playgrounds, for example, could enhance these interactions. All the benefits of good urban design come together in a safe urban space where all types of people can meet, exchange and feel comfortable.
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/280123/original/file-20190619-118535-uk0va0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=45&amp;auto=format&amp;w=1000&amp;fit=clip"><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/280123/original/file-20190619-118535-uk0va0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=45&amp;auto=format&amp;w=754&amp;fit=clip" alt=""></a>
Public spaces in Dalian (left) and Gold Coast. Images: K. Dupré (left) and picswe.net (right), Author provided
Australian cities can also learn from China
While Australia’s urban design principles are considerably more advanced, its cities face similar challenges to those in China.
For example, Australia is still grappling with the relationship between people and their urban space. Most Australian cities are car-dominated, going against contemporary understanding of a healthy, sustainable and liveable city.
Car use is dramatically affecting the urban fabric of Chinese and Australian cities. In particular, it has impacts on the experience of pedestrians. The wide streets are difficult to cross, footpaths are often sacrificed for the benefit of the car, and cyclists’ safety is compromised. Good urban design would definitely strive towards a more people-based city model.
Another common challenge is climate change. Both <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2019/feb/28/australia-breaks-weather-records-with-hottest-ever-summer" target="_blank">Australian</a> and <a href="https://www.sixthtone.com/news/1002747/chinas-scorching-heat-wave-brings-a-glimpse-of-the-future" target="_blank">Chinese</a> cities must deal with rising temperatures. The positive impact urban design can have to moderate urban temperatures <a href="https://www.mdpi.com/2075-5309/8/12/182/htm" target="_blank">is now widely recognised</a>. Major Australian cities have now developed <a href="https://wsroc.com.au/projects/project-turn-down-the-heat" target="_blank">guidelines on measures to counter heat</a>, while China is actively working on the issue.
But in one area, the battle to reduce carbon footprints, Chinese cities <a href="https://cleanenergysolutions.org/zh-hans/resources/changxindian-low-carbon-community-concept-plan-website" target="_blank">lead the way</a>. The Chinese government has also developed <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2212095517300627" target="_blank">a substantial green policy</a>. So, while Chinese cities could certainly learn from Australia, the converse seems equally true.<img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/115905/count.gif?distributor=republish-lightbox-basic" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" style="border: none !important; box-shadow: none !important; margin: 0 !important; max-height: 1px !important; max-width: 1px !important; min-height: 1px !important; min-width: 1px !important; opacity: 0 !important; outline: none !important; padding: 0 !important; text-shadow: none !important;">
Lucile Jacquot, Research fellow, Griffith University
Karine Dupré, Associate Professor in Architecture, Griffith University
Yang Liu, PhD Candidate. School of Engineering and Built Environment, Architecture &amp; Design, Griffith University
This article is republished from <a href="http://theconversation.com" target="_blank">The Conversation</a> under a Creative Commons license. Read the <a href="https://theconversation.com/china-can-learn-from-australian-urban-design-but-its-not-all-one-way-traffic-115905" target="_blank">original article</a>.
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China can learn from Australian urban design, but it’s not all one-way traffic

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Chinese owned farming operation Rifa Salutary Pty Ltd is offering its NSW and Victoria based agribusiness portfolio to the market.
Owned by China's Zhejiang Rifa Holding Group, it was Rifa's first Australian agriculture purchase in 2014.
It has since acquired a total of 14 properties in Western Victoria and Northern NSW.
The properties combined land area totals roughly 44000 hectares and Rifa has expectations of selling it for around $150 million.
The largest farm Rifa purchased was the the 22,548 hectare Cooplacurripa Station that runs 5,000 head of cattle for a reported $29 million.
Other purchases by Rifa include two properties adjacent to Cooplacurripa – the Kerriki and “Number One” for $3.5 million – that have a combined acreage of 1,457 hectares.
Plus four additional acquisitions totaling 4,050 hectares – Highland Plain, Avondale, Stonefield, and a portion of Durkin at Warialda have also been purchased for between $12 million and $14 million.
The director of Rifa Salutary and Vice President of Rifa Holding Group, Bobby Jiang, said the company felt the time was right to capture value as a result of completed expenditure and improvement programs, combined with the growth in land value.
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<div id="adspot-1x1-pos1" data-hide-platforms="" data-lazy-load="no">The company's Australian Chief Executive Officer, Cameron Hall said recent investment in infrastructure and improvement programs had set the business up for the future.</div>
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RIFA has also invested in specialist machinery and textiles, aeronautics and aviation, as well as finance and agriculture both in China and around the world.
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Chinese company Rifa offloading some of its Australian agribusiness portfolio

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EXPERT OBSERVER
<div>
Will the higher taxes announced this week make a tremendous difference on the market? The answer is no. They are dispiriting but not too damaging. There is an old saying to the effect that those who can't vote, pay. 
Victoria is the number one destination for Chinese buyers in Australia, leading Sydney with a wide margin. The fact that prices and Victoria are lower than in Sydney has helped to drive Chinese purchasing.
The foreign buyers' tax that was until now 1 per cent lower than in New South Wales also contributed to support demand.
The other big political news lately is the recent national election. The election outcome will have a positive impact on Chinese real estate investment.
The research we conducted just before the election found that a significant share of the industry believes the Coalition victory will mean more Chinese investment, while a Labor victory would have meant Chinese investment would fall. Will Chinese buying triple overnight just because Scott Morrison is in The Lodge? No, but there will be a real impact.
Our core case for 2019 is for Chinese investment to be flat, after two years of falling far and fast from the peaks we saw at the end of 2016. Chinese buyers are still the most important foreign buyers in the market. They just are not buying with the same hyperactivity as three years ago.
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The top Australian cities in 2019 are Melbourne, Sydney, Brisbane, Adelaide, and the Gold Coast, followed closely by Perth in sixth.
Melbourne and Sydney together in 2019 account for 52.3% of buying enquiries. 
The cities with the fastest growing levels of Chinese buyer interest are Hobart, Brisbane, and Canberra.
Hobart has the fastest rate of Chinese buyer growth, with 77% more buyer inquires in 2018 than the year before. Brisbane has the second fastest rate of Chinese buyer growth, with 30.8% more Chinese buyer inquiries in 2018. Canberra has the third fastest rate of Chinese buyer inquiry growth in Australia, with 24.6% more Chinese buyer inquires than the year before. 
Remember that all three of these smaller cities receive significantly less buyer interest than do Sydney or Melbourne. That’s especially true of Hobart and Canberra. Brisbane is fast becoming a real alternative for the two traditional gateway cities of Melbourne and Sydney. Hobart and Canberra, however, still account for only a small share of Chinese buyer interest.
Carrie Law is the CEO of Juwai, a Chinese website for buyers of overseas property.
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Chinese website reaction to Victorian State Budget’s new taxes on foreign buyers

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EXPERT OBSERVER
The prices of Australia's most expensive capital city homes have plummeted, according to CoreLogic, by 12.3% over the past year. That could all start to change in 2019. 
That’s because nearly 1,000 very wealthy individuals who have immigrated to Australia under the Significant Investor Visa are about to have $4.4 billion in cash freed up. Many will undoubtedly choose to use it to buy a family home in their new country of residence.
The Significant Investor Visa is Australia's so-called "golden visa." It's how Australia offers citizenship to individuals who make big investments in the country. Nearly nine out of 10 Significant Investor Visa recipients is Chinese.
A total of 879 individuals and their families got their Significant Investor Visas in 2013, 2014, and 2015. Now, after four years of having their money locked up in strictly limited investment categories, they can become permanent residents. When that happens, they get their $5 million back to spend or invest however they wish. That might include in an expensive family home in Toorak or Mosman if they so desire.
They can certainly afford a high-end Australian home. Each Significant Investor Visa holder being worth an average of $50 million. Since 2,000 individuals have obtained the visa since 2013, their total net worth is about $100 billion. Adding that kind of money to Australia is like doubling the Australian Financial Review's Rich List says David Chin of Basispoint.
Juwai.com data shows that the top destinations for Chinese buyers are Melbourne, Sydney, and Brisbane.  Chinese account for one-quarter of all foreign real estate investment in the country. That's more than any other nationality.
Just like well-off Australians buy homes in Bali, the UK, or New Zealand, wealthy Chinese families also buy homes in Australia. Since the GFC in 2008, this international market has boomed.
Even so, international activity alone wasn’t enough to keep prices from falling in 2018. The Significant Investor Visa program could be a boon to Australia's sagging luxury property markets.
Georg Chmiel is the chairman of Juwai, the number one Chinese website for buyers of overseas property
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Golden immigrants to buy homes as $4.4 billion of cash is freed up: Georg Chmiel

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EXPERT OBSERVER
Visiting customers, officials and other economists in Hong Kong and Singapore in the past week, three insights about China were clear.  Firstly, there is a strong degree of confidence that China will implement stimulus packages to stabilise the economy following the slowdown in growth over the course of 2018.  The second big issue is around trade policy.  Clearly, there is great degree of uncertainty as to exactly how the trade negotiations with the US will get resolved and few people were particularly confident a compromise is in sight in the near term.  Finally, China seems to be heading towards a current account and trade deficit. The concern would be if China tried to take some direct steps to deal with that problem, particularly around students and tourists, which could be damaging to Australia’s economy if growth in arrivals slowed.  Given the size of China’s economy and Australia’s close trading relationship, how these developments unfold will be important in 2019. 
BILL EVANS is the chief economist of <a href="https://www.westpac.com.au/" target="_blank">Westpac</a>.
 
 
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bevans-rYk9SxEa4r

What we need to know about China: Westpac's Bill Evans

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GUEST OBSERVATION
When former Trade Minister Andrew Robb took to the ABC’s <a href="https://www.propertyobserver.com.au/https://www.abc.net.au/news/2019-03-12/andrew-robb-blames-coalition-leaders-for-toxic-china-relations/10891384" target="_blank">AM program</a> to sound off about a “toxic” relationship between Australia and China, he exposed a rippling debate about how to manage an increasingly comlex foreign and security policy challenge.
Long gone are the days of the John Howard formula that <a href="https://pmtranscripts.pmc.gov.au/release/transcript-10335" target="_blank">Australia did not have to choose</a> between its history, meaning America, and its geography, meaning China. Choices are no longer binary.
While the Robb word “toxic” may be an exaggeration, stresses in Australia-China relations are such it is clear we have entered a new and more challenging phase.
For a start, China is undergoing what is, arguably, the most testing moment of an economic transformation that began in 1978 at the third plenary of the 11th Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party. This is when <a href="https://theconversation.com/world-politics-explainer-deng-xiaopings-rise-to-power-103032" target="_blank">Deng Xiaoping re-emerged</a> to initiate one of the more remarkable economic shifts of the modern era.
Apart from a hiatus caused by the Tienanmen uprising in 1989, and an economic soft-landing in the mid-1990s, China has bounded ahead economically, and has seemed unstoppable – until now.
China’s economy and political system has encountered the sort of difficulties that were inevitable. Put simply, an investment driven – as opposed to consumer-led – model is running its course, <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2019-02-24/china-deleveraging-is-dead-as-34-trillion-debt-habit-roars-back" target="_blank">piling up massive government and bank debt in the process</a>.
China risks becoming caught in a <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/opinion/articles/2019-01-13/xi-s-leading-china-s-economy-into-the-middle-income-trap" target="_blank">“middle income trap”</a> in which a developing country, having enacted the easier reforms, gets stuck in second gear in its effort to push ahead with its economic transformation.
You can only build so many road, bridges, fast trains, airports, ports and housing developments. Many of the latter have become “ghost cities”.
At this month’s National People’s Congress, the annual session of China’s “parliament”, Premier Li Keqiang gave what was, by Chinese standards for these sort of cheerleading events, an <a href="https://www.latimes.com/world/la-fg-china-economy-growth-20190305-story" target="_blank">unusually downbeat assessment of challenges ahead</a>.
China, Li said, faces difficulties “of a kind rarely seen in many years”.
What is undeniable is that China’s economy is faltering, its ability to create millions of new jobs annually to employ a restless population is being stretched, and its management of a continuing economic transformation has come under unusual stress. <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/business-45899310" target="_blank">US-China trade tensions</a> are not helping.
In counterpoint to the need for a more dynamic economic environment, its leadership, under President Xi Jinping, is asserting even tighter political controls when it should be giving freer rein to its entrepreneurial class.
This is the central contradiction of a model that has delivered what is the most extraordinary event in world economic history since the industrial revolution. But that model clearly has its limitations compared with those, say, of neighbouring Japan, South Korea and Taiwan.
From an Australian perspective, a slowing and, perhaps more to the point, anxious China is not good news. While economists might argue that a slowdown and thus the need for Beijing to stimulate its economy by ramping up infrastructure projects will benefit iron ore and coal exporters, <a href="https://www.propertyobserver.com.au/https://www.abc.net.au/news/2019-01-29/china-not-house-price-downturn-the-major-risk-deloitte/10750342" target="_blank">economic pressures more generally should be concerning</a>.
A Chinese regime that feels itself under stress from within and without may prove to be more cantankerous, and unpredictable. Australian policymakers should be mindful of the consequences of China getting through this difficult stage without mishap.
Of course, forests have been felled publishing predictions China would be unable to maintain its remarkable transformation since early glimmers of an opening to the outside world appeared in 1978, two years after Mao Zedong’s death.
This brings us back to Andrew Robb’s observation about a “toxic” relationship between Beijing and Canberra. Referring to the shelving of a plan to develop a health precinct in China to match that of the Texas Medical Centre – the world’s largest medical facility – Robb said central government officials had kyboshed the arrangement due to ongoing tensions with Australia.
Australian medical professionals would have helped establish the facility. Robb said Landbridge (the company for which Robb was consulting) was told in no uncertain terms by the seniors officials that unfortunately the relationship between Australia and China had become so toxic that this would be put in the bin.
Leaving aside Robb’s own chagrin at losing a lucrative consultancy, what is the fair judgement about the state of Australia-China relations?
And, what of Robb’s criticism of sections of the Australian security establishment, notably the Australian Strategic Policy Institute? He accused ASPI, a hothouse of China negativity, of being “a mouthpiece of the US security agencies and its defence industry”.
Given ASPI’s hawkish views on China more generally, Robb has a point.
His assessment is correct that China-Australia relations were off-track when the decision was made to scupper the Landbridge-proposed medical facility. But it is also the true that by the end of last year the relationship had been “reset”.
Foreign Minister <a href="https://theconversation.com/australia-and-china-push-the-reset-button-on-an-important-relationship-106428" target="_blank">Marise Payne went to China in November</a> for what was described as a cordial exchange. This followed a two-year freeze in relations during which no senior Australian official was welcomed in Beijing.
China had made no secret of its displeasure over speeches delivered over time by both then <a href="https://www.malcolmturnbull.com.au/media/keynote-address-at-the-16th-iiss-asia-security-summit-shangri-la-dialogue" target="_blank">Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull</a> and then <a href="https://foreignminister.gov.au/speeches/Pages/2017/jb_sp_170313a.aspx" target="_blank">Foreign Minister Julie Bishop</a> in which they had criticised Beijing’s expansionist activities in the South China Sea, and, in Bishop’s case, China’s political model.
Turnbull compounded the situation when he misappropriated an expression attributed to Mao in proclaiming the People’s Republic on October 1, 1949. Australia had “stood up”, Turnbull said, when unveiling laws designed to curb foreign interference in Australian domestic affairs.
Next day, Turnbull made things worse by <a href="https://www.propertyobserver.com.au/https://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-12-09/malcolm-turnbull-says-he-will-stand-up-for-australia/9243274" target="_blank">repeating Mao’s words in Mandarin</a> in his description of legislation that was clearly aimed at Chinese influence.
So what of Robb’s comments? Whatever toxicity existed between Canberra and Beijing seems to have dissipated somewhat. However, real risks remain in management of what is Australia’s most challenging relationship.
It is no good pretending otherwise. China is not a benign power. It will seek to get away with what it can. It resists abiding by a roadmap for a rules-based international order, as we understand it. It will use cyber technology ruthlessly to advance its interests by dubious means, on occasions. It will “disappear” foreign nationals of those countries which incur its displeasure. It will invest in agents of influence in the Australian system. This includes universities.
All this requires a level of vigilance on the part of the security agencies, and, possibly, a new White Paper aimed specifically at just how Australia might manage a complex relationship that is likely to become, more, not less, complicated.
Bear in mind <a href="https://dfat.gov.au/trade/resources/Documents/chin.pdf" target="_blank">one in three export dollars</a> depends on a functioning relationship with China.
This is an unsatisfactory situation, but it is the reality.
On the other hand, no purpose is served by yielding to a Canberra security establishment whose machinations risk chilling a relationship that needs to be warmed up, not cooled down.
Former ambassador to China, Stephen Fitzgerald, proffered some good advice this week when he said in a <a href="https://www.theaustralian.com.au/opinion/columnists/troy-bramston/why-canberra-must-reset-its-relationship-with-china/news-story/ab9403cb437c2f53b68ca760609908c8" target="_blank">newspaper interview</a> that Australia needed to deepen its engagement with China rather than draw back, since, unlike the US, we are “living in a Chinese world”.
That, whether we like it or not, is the case.<img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/113545/count.gif?distributor=republish-lightbox-basic" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" style="border: none !important; box-shadow: none !important; margin: 0 !important; max-height: 1px !important; max-width: 1px !important; min-height: 1px !important; min-width: 1px !important; opacity: 0 !important; outline: none !important; padding: 0 !important; text-shadow: none !important;">
Tony Walker, Adjunct Professor, School of Communications, La Trobe University
This article is republished from <a href="http://theconversation.com" target="_blank">The Conversation</a> under a Creative Commons license. Read the <a href="https://theconversation.com/chinese-australia-relations-may-not-be-toxic-but-they-do-need-to-keep-warming-up-113545" target="_blank">original article</a>.
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