Daniel Andrews has been criticised by the opposition for posing alongside North Korean dictator Kim Jong-un and the Russian president, Vladimir Putin, at a military parade in Beijing’s Tiananmen Square.
The former Victorian Labor premier stood several rows behind the North Korean semi-recluse (who is facing complaints of alleged crimes against humanity) during the photo opportunity for leaders from the so-called “axis of upheaval”.
In the photo, distributed by the Russian state agency Sputnik, Putin stands to Chinese president Xi Jinping’s right, with Kim to Xi’s left, and Xi’s wife, Peng Liyuan, in between. The leaders of Iran, Indonesia and a number of other countries are also in the group photo.
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The group has assembled to mark the 80th anniversary of the end of the second world war.
The former NSW Labor premier and federal foreign affairs minister Bob Carr was also in Beijing, but chose not to attend the “Soviet-style” military parade, according to Nine newspapers. He had other events later in the day and was addressing two thinktanks.
China was using the occasion to show off its military might, reportedly including drone displays, laser weapons, stealth fighters, advanced precision warfare equipment, helicopters and armoured vehicles.
While China also displayed its nuclear ballistic missiles, Ukraine was braced for more Russian missile and drone attacks, and North Korea was helping Russia in its offensive.
Australia’s shadow home affairs spokesperson, Andrew Hastie, called it a “parade for dictators” and criticised Carr’s and Andrews’ presence in China.
“It’s a celebration of the Chinese Communist party,” he said.
The opposition leader, Sussan Ley, said Andrews needed to explain his presence at a military parade with Putin and “what that actually tells the world”.
But the current Victorian premier, Jacinta Allan, said it was good for the state that Andrews was “held in such high regard by the people of China”.
“Victoria is an old friend of China, and these connections are so valuable for our state,” she said on Wednesday.
Allan said she was looking forward to building on the connection with a trade mission later this month, where she would launch Victoria’s new China strategy.
The Victorian minister Vicki Ward said Andrews had made the choice “in his private capacity”, as a “private individual”, and that it was important for Australia to maintain “good, healthy relationships with those countries that are in our region”.
But former Queensland Labor premier Annastacia Palaszczuk told Sky News the visit by Andrews and Carr was a “bridge too far”.
No major western leaders attended the parade. Anthony Albanese was asked on Wednesday why Andrews was the most senior representative at the parade and why Australia was only sending junior diplomats.
“Well, we’re sending a diplomat. We’ll be there,” the prime minister said.
In question time, Albanese was asked whether he would echo Palaszczuk’s condemnation and whether he or his office provided any assistance for the visit.
He replied that 10 years ago, the Liberal government sent one of its ministers for the 70th anniversary of the second world war, and that embassy officials were formally representing Australia this year, before speaking about celebrating the end of the war in the Pacific earlier this month in Sydney.
Dr Jill Sheppard from Australian National University’s school of politics and international relations, said from a domestic politics perspective with “risk averse” parties, it was a good outcome for Labor to have Andrews as a “proxy representative”.
“Both major parties find China really tough to talk about … in a lot of ways this is an ideal outcome for Labor, to have someone visibly associated with them standing so close to sometimes controversial world leaders, but not have to be there themselves,” she said.
“You can go to electorates with very high numbers of Chinese voters … and say look, we understand Chinese politics, we’re happy to engage with the country and its government, without being the one physically there, standing over Kim Jong-un’s shoulder.
“The tough reality of dealing with foreign relations in a multicultural society is that you will have voters inside Australia with strong views about countries in both directions.”
Jennifer Parker, adjunct fellow in naval studies at UNSW Canberra, said “I suspect he’ll regret that photo in years to come”.
The Australian reported that Scott Dewar, Australia’s ambassador to China, would be out of the country.
Earlier, Andrews was filmed shaking Xi’s hand. Albanese said Andrews was not meeting Putin or Kim.
Guardian Australia contacted Andrews for comment.
Andrews left parliament in 2023. In 2024, he set up two companies, Glencairn Street Pty Ltd and Wedgetail Partners Pty Ltd, and was appointed chair of the board of the youth mental health centre Orygen.
Carr wrote in the Nine newspapers this week that he was travelling to Beijing at his own expense for reasons including that, during the second world war, Chinese armies had “kept one million Japanese troops tied down”, which “made it impossible for the Japanese navy in 1942 to win its case for an invasion of Australia”.
Additional reporting by Benita Kolovos
