Daniel Andrews, the Premier of Victoria, has refused to release speech notes from a recent address he gave to Chinese dignitaries at Melbourne’s Park Hyatt on June 6. A journalist from the Herald Sun newspaper was prevented from attending the Post-Pandemic China-Australia Economic Cooperation Forum, where Andrews spoke for 30 minutes. Pressure is now mounting on the premier to release a transcript of his speech, which is the standard practice for political leaders. Andrews has claimed that he did not use any notes and spoke without reference to them. Although he would have allowed media to attend the event, the organisers were against it. Melbourne Lord Mayor Sally Capp and former federal trade minister Andrew Robb also attended the event, which was co-hosted by the Melbourne branch of the China Chamber of Commerce and the China Institute for Innovation and Development Strategy. However, security expert Alex Joske has demonstrated that this second organisation has intimate links with China’s principal foreign intelligence collection agency, the Ministry of State Security. Andrews has previously come under criticism for not inviting the media to accompany him during a surprise four-day visit to China in April, during which he became the first Australian leader to visit China since the pandemic and since bilateral ties took a nose-dive following calls from former Prime Minister Scott Morrison for an inquiry into the origins of COVID-19.