Major Australian Water Plant Sold to Chinese Communist Party-controlled Company

According to media reports on March 14, leaked documents have revealed that a critical water facility at Kemps Creek in western Sydney, the Upper South Creek Advanced Water Recycling Centre, is operated and managed by a company owned by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) government. The company is called TRILITY Pty Ltd. and is affiliated with the CCP’s Beijing Enterprises Water Group. The Upper South Creek water plant serves over one million people in Sydney and will be operated by Trility for five years, with an option to operate for a further five years. The plan to outsource the management of the waterworks came shortly after the privatization of the waterworks, and was investigated by law firm Clayton Utz and accounting firm KPMG on behalf of the New South Wales government. Prominent journalist Chris O’Keefe said, “If Australia must reject the CCP government’s purchase of Australian power poles and wires, and ban Huawei from participating in Australia’s telecommunications network, how can companies like Beijing Enterprises Water Group, which have significant links to the CCP, be approved? Currently, the Australian government is spending a huge amount of money to counter the CCP’s influence in the region, but the Perrottet government of New South Wales has sold the operating rights of part of Australia’s water supply network to a company owned by the CCP.