A planned visit to the UK by the Australian Parliament's powerful intelligence and security committee has been abruptly cancelled amid a diplomatic row over Boris Johnson's controversial decision to allow Chinese telco Huawei into its 5G network
the committee's deputy chair and veteran Labor MP Anthony Byrne rebuked the UK's Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab during a face-to-meeting in Canberra. Mr Byrne told the British Secretary of State that letting China build Britain's critical national infrastructure was tantamount to allowing the Russians to construct it.
US President Donald Trump was reportedly "apoplectic" about Mr Johnson's decision on Huawei, while Mr Byrne's intervention was widely regarded as a reflection of Australia's position - something confirmed this week by Home Affairs Minister Peter Dutton in Question Time, who endorsed and praised the Labor MP.
"I don't think there's much that the member for Holt would say that anybody could argue against when it comes to these matters," Mr Dutton said."You [Mr Hastie and Mr Byrne] should both be commended for the leadership you provide [of the security and intelligence committee]." The dispute over Huawei has also caused a serious rift between Mr Johnson and Mr Trump, with British tabloidAustralia first banned Huawei from supplying equipment to the nascent National Broadband Network in 2012 under Julia Gillard, and in 2018, then prime minister Malcolm Turnbull banned the company from taking part in the 5G rollout, on security advice.
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