Australian government was forced to withdraw the proposed extradition treaty with China from parliament on Tuesday, after members of opposition party and also few members of the government decided to unanimously oppose the treaty.

The move will come as a huge setback for Sino - Australian relationship that few days appeared to be robust and strong after Premier Li Keqiang concluded a successful five day visit to Canberra last week.

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Australia's opposition parties including Greens, Labor and former Liberal senator Cory Bernardi opposed the treaty on the grounds that China has a controversial track record on human right issues and the country's judicial system is not impartial and fair.

Australia's former Prime Minister and member of opposition Tony Abott publicly criticized China's judicial system as something that was not matured enough to receive support from his country's people

"In my judgment, China's legal system has to evolve further before the Australian government and people could be confident that those before it would receive justice according to law," Abott told The Australian newspaper.

Mr. Bernardi also led the charge to stall the treaty as he cited China's high conviction rates and "promised to vigilant that no such treaty should be ratified by the Australian Parliament until the rule of law improves in China."

The Malcolm Turnbull government needed the support of the opposition parties to ratify the treaty as it does not enjoy majority at the senate. Had the treaty been ratified on Tuesday, it would have joined France and Spain and become one of the few western countries to enter into an extradition treaty with China.

Canberra signed the extradition treaty with Beijing in 2007, with treaty containing special provisions against extraditing people at the risk of torture or execution.

Meanwhile, the Turnbull government immediately resorted to damage control, knowing very the implication the collapse of treaty would have on China - Australia relationship. The implications can be immediate considering that Beijing signed several lucrative trade deals with Canberra only few days back during Li's visit last week

"It has been in our national interest to have this agreement with China. We will speak with our Chinese friends in more detail and decide what to do," Foreign Minister Julie Bishop told a news conference.

Over the year Australia from time to time has slammed Beijing over human right issues and politically sensitive issues like South China Sea, which has put a considerable strain on their bilateral and trade relations.

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