Bob Carr
Bob Carr is an Australian retired politician and journalist who served as the 39th Premier of New South Wales from 1995 to 2005, as the leader of the NSW Branch of the Australian Labor Party (ALP). He later entered federal politics as a New South Wales senator, and served as Minister for Foreign Affairs from 2012 to 2013. Following his departure from politics he served as the Director of the Australia-China Relations Institute from 2014 to 2019 at the University of Technology Sydney (UTS).
Carr was born in Sydney and attended the University of New South Wales. Before entering politics he worked as a journalist. Carr entered the New South Wales Legislative Assembly in 1983, and the following year became a cabinet minister. He served under Neville Wran and Barrie Unsworth until the Labor government was defeated in a landslide at the 1988 state election. Carr subsequently replaced Unsworth as party leader, thus becoming leader of the opposition. He led Labor to the 1991 election, where it recovered many of the seats it had lost in 1988, and then became premier after a narrow victory in 1995.
As premier, Carr was known for his emphasis on conservation and his use of public–private partnerships to fund infrastructure projects.[citation needed] His government oversaw much of the planning for the 2000 Summer Olympics, which Sydney hosted. Carr was re-elected twice, in 1999 and 2003, eventually resigning as premier in 2005 after 10 years in office. Only Henry Parkes served as premier for longer, and no one has served a longer consecutive term. Carr remained a public figure after leaving the premiership, and entered federal politics in 2012 at the urging of Prime Minister Julia Gillard. He served as foreign minister under both Gillard and Kevin Rudd, but retired following Labor's defeat at the 2013 federal election.
U Syd Labor event
Prof. Marina Zhang, Bob Carr, Anthony D'Adam, Prof. Wanning Sun.
Gaza fundraiser
Shanikh Badra connection
Shamikh Badra with Bob Carr.
Albanese/Burke fundraiser]
Shaoquett Moselmane, Bob Carr, Tony Burke, Anthony Albanese
China controversy
Australia’s former foreign minister and New South Wales premier, Bob Carr, says he intends to sue New Zealand’s deputy prime minister, Winston Peters, for allegations made about Carr’s closeness to China as debate about Aukus ramps up.
Peters called Carr “nothing more than a Chinese puppet” on the national broadcaster RNZ on Thursday morning.
New Zealand is considering whether it should involve itself in pillar two of the military pact between Australia, the UK and the US, which involves developing and sharing advanced technologies. New Zealand has not been offered the chance to join pillar one – nor would it accept, due to its anti-nuclear position.
Carr shared his criticisms of the pact on a visit to Wellington in April, calling it “bullshit” and saying he admired New Zealand foreign policy as it wasn’t as “gullible to the Americans” as Australia’s.
In a speech to parliament on Wednesday evening, Peters, who is also the foreign affairs minister, said New Zealand was still “a long way” from joining pillar two, in part because it had not yet been invited to do so.
Peters followed up with a round of interviews on Thursday morning in which he was asked about Carr’s criticism, then launched an extraordinary broadside.
“What on earth does he think he’s doing walking into our country and telling us what to do?” Peters told RNZ. “We would no more do that in Australia than he should do here. That’s the kind of arrogance we don’t like.”
Peters called Carr “nothing more than a Chinese puppet” before suggesting even further alignment in comments RNZ later removed from its clip of the interview.
In statement to the Post, Carr said these comments were “entirely defamatory” and he would be taking legal action.
In a statement to the Guardian, Peters’ office said the minister would respond to queries about Carr’s threats of legal action “if [Peters] receives formal notification of any such action”.
The former New Zealand primeminister Helen Clark, who spoke alongside Carr at the Labour-aligned, anti-Aukus conference in April, told RNZ Peters had “seriously defamed” Carr.
The Labour leader, Chris Hipkins, has called on the prime minister, Christopher Luxon, to stand Peters down. “The allegations that he made against Bob Carr, a senior and well-respected politician, are totally unacceptable,” Hipkins told media.
“The fact you have Bob Carr taking defamation action is embarrassing for New Zealand, it shows Winston Peters has abused his office. He should stand Winston Peters down immediately.”
Carr led the Australia China Relations Institute at the University of Technology in Sydney from 2014 to 2019 after his departure from politics.
Speaking to Australian Associated Press in Wellington in April, Carr said he was not blind to China’s misdeeds. “Australia is entitled to challenge China, to press back against China’s influence-building in the South Pacific,” he said.
“I’ve criticised China for militarising artificial structures in the South China Sea. I believe the extinction of legal autonomy for Hong Kong was wrong.
“I’ve always said Australia and other partners of China are entitled to press human rights and make specific reference to Tibet and Xinjiang province and the Uyghurs.
“No one’s ever advocating that we not talk about deterrence, where it’s required to maintain an honourable balance of power in Asia.
“But I’ve made very clear my reservations about Aukus. A$368bn is the biggest transfer of wealth outside of Australia that has ever happened in our history.”[1]
Australia-China relations in 2017
The Australia-China Relations Institute (ACRI) at the University of Technology Sydney (UTS) welcomed leading Australian Sinologist Professor Colin Mackerras to speak on developments in contemporary Australia-China relations.
Professor Mackerras provided an overview of his book Western Perspectives on the People’s Republic of China (World Scientific, 2015) and offered insights into the contemporary state of Australia-China relations, including the challenges the bilateral relationship is facing. Following his presentation, Professor Mackerras was interviewed by Professor the Hon Bob Carr, ACRI Director, and participated in a Q&A session with the audience.[2].