Australia is ‘three-fifths of five-eighths of nothing’ to Communist China

Former deputy prime minister Barnaby Joyce says Australia and the world need to tell China it must “start acting not only as a super power in strength, but a super power in your philosophy,” and in the way it deals with the “new global environment”. China on Monday threatened to place a close to 80 per cent tariff on Australian barley exports, under the guise of an 'anti-dumping probe,' giving the Australian government less than two weeks to resolve the issue. The communist country has now chosen to suspend imports from four separate Australia abattoirs, one of which is Chinese owned. Mr Joyce said Australia cannot quit its current line pushing for a global inquiry because if you step down to someone who’s “bullying you, then get read to be pushed all around the playground”. He told Sky News host Paul Murray in reality China “doesn’t really care what happens in Australia” because in its mind Australia is “irrelevant; we’re three-fifths of five-eights of nothing”. “We have to make sure that we don’t dance closely with elephants because the elephants will squash us”. Image: AP