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The Belt and Road Agreement due to be signed by the Victorian government in June set a “hideous” precedent, according to former speaker of the house Bronwyn Bishop.

“The idea that you can have a premier who can get around the proper use of the foreign affairs power is just outrageous,” she said.

Nationals Senator Matt Canavan said “normally governments only keep treaty provisions secret when they have something to hide”.

In his previous role as a minister, Mr Canavan said China’s Belt and Road initiative had been debated and the government “ultimately decided it wasn’t right” to tie Australia to “another nation’s grand strategy”.

“We still welcomed Chinese investment on a case by case basis”.

Mr Canavan said Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews “should reflect on the new China and think again about the interests of Victoria and the National government”.

“If he doesn’t, I think there is a role for the federal government to step in and stop this happening”.

Image: News Corp Australia