Former Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews has teamed up with Australia’s richest man to sell “green” iron ore to China.
Mr Andrew’s consultancy, Forty Eight and Partners, is teaming up with Andrew ‘Twiggy’ Forrest’s company Fortescue, the Sydney Morning Herald reported.
The two companies have committed to delivering 100 million tonnes of “green” iron to China after recently meeting at the Boao Forum for Asia in Hainan province in March.
Andrews, who gave a speech at the event, has not shared any specific details about the partnership with Forrest, who was also present as a title sponsor.
It is the first high-profile job Andrews has taken on since leaving the premiership in 2023.
Forrest is Australia’s richest man worth $21.5 billion.
Former Victorian premier Daniel Andrews’ next move has been revealed by Sydney Morning Herald sources.
Mr Andrews’ consultancy Forty Eight and Partners has teamed up with Andrew ‘Twiggy’ Forrest’s Fortescue to deliver 100 million tonnes of “green” iron ore to China.
Sources revealed that the pair hope to deliver iron whose carbon emissions have been eliminated from all mining, processing and supply chain operations.
This extraction process would require eight million tons of renewable hydrogen each year.
Forrest has recruited former politicians in the past and hired former South Australian Labor premier Jay Weatherill in 2019.
Forrest and Weatherill joined together to lead the Thrive by Five children’s education campaign which Forrest had set up with his then wife Nicola.
Details of the deal between Andrews and Forrest have not yet been revealed and it is not yet known how the business will be run or who will run it.
The former prime minister spent his career trying hard to foster closer trade ties with China through his canceled Belt and Road initiatives.
Former Prime Minister Scott Morrison’s Foreign Minister Marise Payne used sweeping foreign veto laws to crush the Andrews-China deal in 2021.
Andrews has worked to foster closer ties between Australia and China, and is said to have organized his new China venture in March (pictured, Chinese President Xi Jinping).
In September last year, Andrews announced he was stepping down from the top job with Jacinta Allan to take up the role.
Andrews spent nine years in the top job, making him Victoria’s longest-serving Labor premier.
He became arguably Australia’s most divisive politician, and certainly one of its most iconic, during the Covid pandemic.
He made the surprising decision to resign after speaking with his wife Catherine and the couple’s three children, Grace, Joseph and Noah.