Trade minister to dash home from China early for Senate demands

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Trade Minister Don Farrell will cut short his trip to China just one day into the historic visit with Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, forced to return to Australia for a sitting of the Senate next week after illness depleted Labor’s frontbench.

The dramatic development unfolded on Saturday as Albanese was preparing to board a flight from Darwin for a three-day state visit to China, the first by an Australian prime minister since 2016, where he will be joined by Farrell in Shanghai and Foreign Minister Penny Wong in Beijing.

Trade Minister Don Farrell greeting Commerce Minister Wang Wentao during a trip to Beijing in May.Credit: AP

Farrell is now expected to return to Australia two days early on Sunday evening, after attending the opening of the China International Import Expo in Shanghai, one of the largest trade fairs in the world, with Albanese and Chinese Premier Li Qiang.

The Senate is scheduled to sit for a week from Monday, with Labor ministers Murray Watt and Katy Gallagher tasked with holding down the fort during question time while Farrell and Wong were in China. However, government sources unauthorised to speak publicly said Gallagher had fallen ill, leaving Watt as the only minister in the chamber and forcing Farrell’s return.

The federal government was eager to downplay any impact Farrell’s early departure may have on Australia’s lobbying efforts for China to remove the last of the $20 billion in trade sanctions by clearing the restrictions on the live lobster trade and beef industries.

Farrell, who departed for China on Friday before Albanese and Wong, will now meet with Chinese Commerce Minister Wang Wentao on Saturday night to discuss trade issues before leaving on Sunday.

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