Federal Labor senator Kimberley Kitching says foreign policy should only be within the purvey of the federal government and it is "not ideal" that the Victorian state government decided to join up to China's Belt and Road Initiative. It was revealed last month Victoria did not consult with the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade before signing the second stage of a memorandum of understanding with the Communist Party.
Victoria is expected to officially engage in the controversial $24.5 billion infrastructure program with China later this year, which is in direct contradiction to the federal government's public approach to Belt and Roads.
The Belt and Road Initiative is an $A1.44 trillion program spanning 138 different countries designed to create a global trade network.
China claims the deal will be mutually beneficial, but Beijing maintains the right to seize the asset it has built if the country cannot pay for it.
This happened in Sri Lanka, where the communist party repossessed a port after the government was unable to repay the loans it used to build it.
Senator Kitching told Sky News "on principle it was not good" for the Victorian government to sign up to the deal.
"We have to call out something that is not right," Senator Kitching said.
We need all of our ducks lined up and pointed in the same direction when we are looking at foreign policy.
"It's also pretty expensive money to borrow ... borrowing money I think from Beijing would be a pretty expensive enterprise."
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