Former Australian foreign minister Julie Bishop is under fire over potential conflicts of interest tied to her recent business dealings while serving as the United Nations Special Envoy on Myanmar, according to a new statement by Justice For Myanmar (JFM) on Sunday.
Bishop, who was appointed to the UN role in April 2024, is tasked with advancing a resolution to Myanmar’s ongoing crisis. However, JFM, a watchdog group that works to expose businesses with financial ties to the Myanmar military, stated on Sunday that her involvement with Energy Transition Minerals (ETM), an Australian-listed mining company with links to Chinese state-owned enterprises active in Myanmar, has raised concerns about her ability to perform the role impartially.
“We have serious concerns about UN Special Envoy Julie Bishop’s business activities, including her appointment as an advisor for a China-backed mining project in Greenland that has been rightfully resisted by indigenous people,” said JFM spokesperson Yadanar Maung.
“China is one of the Myanmar military’s biggest arms suppliers and also provides the military with major sources of revenue, including from the mining sector,” she added.
JFM is calling on the UN Secretary General António Guterres to open an investigation into Bishop’s apparent conflicts of interests. The watchdog group says that one key ETM partner is Shenghe Resources, a Chinese rare earths conglomerate that holds a nine percent stake in ETM and has a seat on its board. Shenghe Resources has played a significant role in rare earth mining in Myanmar, a sector tied to environmental degradation and alleged funding of Myanmar’s military.
Bishop joined ETM as a strategic advisor in January 2025 through her consulting firm, Julie Bishop and Partners. The company’s Kvanefjeld mining project in Greenland has drawn controversy due to environmental concerns and its connection to Chinese state-backed firms.
Global Witness, an international non-government organisation that investigates environmental and human rights abuses, has reported that Myanmar is the largest supplier of heavy rare earths to China, with revenues potentially fueling military abuses.
Another Chinese partner in the Kvanefjeld project is the China Communications Construction Company (CCCC), which remains active in Myanmar through infrastructure projects linked to the China-Myanmar Economic Corridor. CCCC has been involved in projects such as the New Yangon City development and the deep-sea port in Kyaukphyu, a town in Rakhine State that is still under junta control. The projects have both faced criticism for benefiting Myanmar’s military leadership.
Bishop is a registered lobbyist for Twinza Oil Limited, a company that once held a gas project in Myanmar under a contract signed with the former junta. She has also worked with Summit Gold Limited, advising on a mining project in Papua New Guinea, and Mineral Resources (MinRes), which is partnered with China Baowu Steel Group, a state-backed company involved in a nickel project in Myanmar that generates revenue for the ruling junta.
This is not the first time Bishop has faced criticism for her role in senior positions at high level institutions.
According to The Australian Financial Review, Bishop, who is also chancellor of the Australian National University (ANU), spent US$95,000 on travel in 2024, while her Perth-based office racked up $391,360 in expenses, causing a stir with the Australian public.
More recently, an Australian trade union has been moving forward with a vote of no confidence on Bishop’s leadership at ANU. The National Tertiary Education Union (NTEU) is conducting an online vote that also targets ANU Vice-Chancellor Genevieve Bell.
Lachlan Clohesy, the NTEU ACT Division Secretary says that there are genuine problems with how she conducts and leverages her position at ANU.
“As Chancellor, Julie Bishop has referred to staff as ‘inefficiencies’ in the context of mass sackings, while also spending extravagantly using ANU money,” he told Myanmar Now. “This includes the potential for serious conflicts of interest including employing staff of her consulting firm on the ANU payroll, and using ANU funds to contract her business partner and former chief-of-staff.”
Clohesy added the latest revelations “raise serious questions about whether foreign interference laws have been complied with,” and whether it is appropriate for her to conduct private business interests in a way that could hurt Australia’s national interests.
“We have previously called for Julie Bishop to resign or be sacked,” he said. “Her continued engagement as Chancellor makes a mockery of university governance in Australia and damages the reputation of the university.”
Many argue Bishop’s ties to Chinese-backed industries operating in Myanmar undermine her neutrality in engaging with Myanmar’s pro-democracy movement, civil society, and conflict-affected communities. Calls for an investigation into her business links are mounting as questions over her ethical conduct continue to grow.
Justine Chambers, visiting fellow at ANU and Myanmar researcher at the Danish Institute for International Studies, told Myanmar Now in April of last year that Bishop’s role at the UN should also be scrutinised.
“Bishop is known for her long-standing role in a government which put refugees fleeing conflict in offshore detention centres, as well for her obstructionist approach at the UN,” Chambers said. “If they are looking for someone that will listen to Myanmar’s people and genuinely cares about international humanitarian law, then it’s not clear to me why Bishop was selected for this role.”
In the past, Myanmar civil society groups and rights advocates have criticised the appointment of a new UN Special Envoy, questioning the role’s effectiveness after past envoys failed to curb the junta’s violence. In October last year, Bishop visited Myanmar’s capital and met with junta chief Min Aung Hlaing.
“The fact that the companies Julie Bishop is linked to have a history of dirty deals with the Myanmar military makes her activities even more questionable,” JFM’s Yadanar Maung said.
“Julie Bishop’s apparent disregard for the rights of Greenlanders raises further concerns about the extent she will uphold the rights of Myanmar people.”
