The reason this keeps happening is there's a lack of accountability for people making these decisions and it's a fault of our democracy that we work on three year election cycles so there's a lot of self interest and vote buying occuring that they make popular decisions for tomorrow that hurt us years later.
China is an expert at playing the long game, they've got one political party and you don't have a choice so they can plan over decades.
We've got three years then the new government can overturn anything the previous government has done - East West link being signed weeks out of an election in VIC then the new government cancelling it and paying 8 figures to not build infrastructure - wowzer!
Our politicians only need to make the set time until they get on the gravy train, then they end up working for some company afterwards they probably tweaked legislation for.
NSW State Premier gives up politics then ends up working for NAB? Hmm
The rights and sovereignty issues are lost on Australians because we've never had to spill blood for rights, freedoms and independence, there's been little human cost over our brief history where as every millimetre of the squiggly lines that make up the borders of Europe cost human life and they're not willing to concede an inch - good times create weak people and Australians get upset over having to pay tax on their 36 investment properties even though they're selling their own children down the river.