WA Premier Mark McGowan is allowing China to own more of the supply chain of everything that powers our digital and electronic world and open up WA’s critical minerals to more Chinese ownership at a time when Japan, the US, South Korea and India want that type of economic and technological partnership.

The comments from Strategic Analysis Australia director Michael Shoebridge come as McGowan today meets representatives from up to 30 state-owned entities and private Chinese investors at Crown Perth, at a time of rising tension in the Indo-Pacific.

“The Premier is just drinking his own Kool-Aid on this, about the power of a premier, that is a wonderful thing for the people in Beijing to see him thinking like that,” he told Gareth Parker on 6PR Breakfast.

Tap PLAY to hear how McGowan could use his influence in China for better purposes

“McGowan continuing deepening his embrace of Chinese regime figures, like the ones he’s meeting today, tells Beijing that Australian political leaders are willing to trade off national security and human rights for business cash.

“And it also tells them Australia has political fault lines between the state levels of government and Canberra… both those things are bad.”