The reality is somewhat different. The reports are based on comments by Huawei Australia director and former Victorian premier John Brumby at Sydney University’s Sydney-China business forum on Tuesday.
Brumby said nothing more than that he was urging Huawei to consider the establishment of an R&D centre as part of “localisation” measures, and that these measures might eventually lead to an ASX listing. Huawei has already said that it will reinvest its Australian profits locally.
A Huawei Australian spokesman told iTWire that not too much should be read into Brumby’s remarks. “They were not scripted and were made in a panel session. Brumby was talking in a general sense about the localisation strategy and the sorts of things we may do down the track.”
The localisation strategy has become very important to Huawei in Australia. It was recently banned from supplying NBN Co, based on unspecified “security concerns” The company has hired some heavyweight Australians as board members – as well as Brumby former foreign affairs minister Alexander Downer is on the board, and retired rear admiral John Lord is chairman.
It publishes an annual Australian corporate report that looks for all the world like a public company’s annual report. With global revenues of 185 billion Yuan ($31 billion), it is determined that it is not to be denied its place in the Australian sun.
