Confucius Institute

The Hon. T.A. FRANKS (15:03): I seek leave to make a brief explanation before addressing a question to the Assistant Minister to the Premier on the topic of her ambassador role at the Adelaide University Confucius Institute.

Leave granted.

The Hon. T.A. FRANKS: I note that next month the New South Wales government's internal desktop review of their Confucius classrooms will be released. This follows action taken last year by that government and that education minister to halt all expansion of Confucius classrooms until such an investigation occurred. Last week, it was further revealed through a media investigation and freedom of information requestions that, of the 13 Confucius institutes at Australian universities, 11 of the contracts that were able to be accessed through that freedom of information request found that our academic institutions are being compromised, specifically through Hanban by the Chinese Communist Party.

Only two universities refused to comply with that FOI agreement. One was RMIT, the other was the University of Adelaide. I have raised in this place before my concerns and certainly hosted a film documentary called In the Name of Confucius, which has seen exposure in Canada of such political interference in their academic institutions and has led to the closure of Confucius institutes in Canada.

The content of the contracts for the 11 Australian universities were eerily similar, not only to those in Canada but indeed to each other. They have led the federal Attorney-General to calling on Universities Australia to act, they have led the federal Attorney-General to question whether or not our federal laws with regard to foreign interference are indeed being compromised, and they have led, again, as I say, to the New South Wales government suspending all interaction with Confucius classrooms. My questions to the assistant to the Premier are:

1. What message does this parliamentary ambassadorship that you hold at the Confucius Institute of Adelaide University, send to our expatriate communities here such as the Uighurs, Tibetans, Taiwanese or Falun Gong practitioners?

2. Have you taken personally any measures to ensure that the University of Adelaide comply and release their contract with the Confucius Institute and with Hanban?

3. Will you now reassure all members of our community that your role in the Marshall government is not compromised by your role as a parliamentary ambassador to the Confucius Institute at Adelaide University?

The Hon. J.S. LEE (15:05): I would just like to say that I take those questions from the honourable member very seriously. In terms of the ambassadorship for Confucius Institute, I would just like to remind members of the house, as well as other members, that it was a bipartisanship support across the parties and, at the time when the ambassadorship was created, in the Labor government, I recall that Lisa Vlahos, Tom Kenyon, Martin Hamilton-Smith and myself became the parliamentary ambassadors representing the parliament.

Subsequently, many trips were conducted overseas, and I believe from this chamber the Hon. Mark Parnell has also participated in the Confucius overseas trip, with colleagues from both sides of politics. In regard to other investigations that were carried out in other states, I will take those questions on notice and bring back the answers once I have had the opportunity to speak to the Confucius Institute based at the University of Adelaide.