Australia’s support for a key event designed to legitimise the Saudi Arabian regime is looking increasingly lonely as European countries and even the Trump administration abandon it.
US Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin is only the most high-profile withdrawal from the Riyadh “Future Investment Initiative” (FII) conference over the last 48 hours as boycotts snowball in the wake of further evidence of the torture, murder and dismemberment of journalist Jamal Khashoggi in the Saudi consulate in Istanbul. International Monetary Fund chair Christine Lagarde has withdrawn, as has the UK Trade Secretary Liam Fox, French Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire as part of a broader suspension of diplomatic contact, and Le Maire’s Dutch counterpart Wopke Hoekstra.
Australia is not sending ministers but Crikey reported earlier this week that our ambassador to the regime will be attending, as will Austrade’s regional manager to “organise client and investor meetings during FII supporting inward investment to Australia and targeted outward investment projects by Australian businesses.”
The conference includes an “interdisciplinary workshop” on media (BYO bone saw, presumably) despite most of the world’s major media companies boycotting. However, some major companies are continuing as “partners“: prominent money launderers HSBC and Credit Suisse, Mastercard, tax avoidance specialists Deloitte, E&Y and PWC, and consultants BCG and McKinsey.
Foreign Minister Marise Payne’s office declined to respond on other countries’ withdrawal from the event. Yesterday in the Senate, Trade Minister Simon Birmingham told Greens Senator Peter Whish-Wilson “I will have a look at what public advice Austrade may be giving in relation to that event at present” but did not indicate Australia would review its support.
Pretty shit Government. Cant wait to see the end of them. Election now!
A five minute search yielded these names of countries and companies boycotting the Riyadh conference. There are probably many more.
US, UK, France, Netherlands, Germany, Canada, IMF, CNBC, Bloomberg, CNN, Fin Times, NY Times, LA Times, The Economist, Fox, Ford, JPMorgan, Uber, Viacom, Google, World Bank, Mastercard, HSBC, KKR, BlackRock, BNP Paribas, Blackstone, Standard Chartered, Credit Suisse.
Australia will be attending.
We have a daylight saving issue.
Interesting that Morrison seems perplexed as to why Oz can’t have ‘a discussion’ re relocating the embassy in Israel but apparently the matter of brown nosing the Saudis rates no discussion on whether it should be discussed.
ScoMoses has curious priorities.
“Morrison Government – A Bunch of Stunts”
Front and centre . . . Murder! Of the most horrendous kind. No matter how oblique; to attend, associate or in any way be seen; allied to or with . . . utterly unforgivable, unretrievable. They and we; pariah nations.