George Brandis (Queensland, Liberal Party, Attorney-General) Share this | Hansard source

I have referred the Senate to two disclosures on the Register of Senators' Interests in relation to Chinese or Chinese-linked entities, which both appear to be the payment of personal debts of Senator Dastyari. I stress again that we have no criticism to make of properly and regularly disclosed political donations by those entities—but it is one thing to make a political donation which is subject to a rigorous disclosure regime and to the integrity provisions of the Commonwealth Electoral Act; it is another thing for a senator to receive personal financial benefits and then to meet his disclosure obligations to the Senate in the most opaque imaginable fashion. It is, of course, a notorious fact that Senator Dastyari has recently taken some foreign policy positions in relation to China which are starkly at variance with the official positions of the Australian Labor Party. On 17 June, at a press conference for the Chinese media, to which I referred earlier, Senator Dastyari is reported as stating his support for China's position on the South China Sea:

The South China Sea is China's own affair. On this issue, Australia should remain neutral and respect China's decision.

This is a position that could not be more starkly at variance from the Labor Party position articulated by its then shadow minister for defence, Senator Conroy.    Senator Dastyari is also quoted as urging Australia to drop its opposition to China's air defence zone in the South China Sea. On 2 June 2014 Senator Dastyari was cautioned by the chair of the Foreign Affairs, Defence and Trade Legislation Committee and the then defence minister, Senator Johnston, about the sensitive nature of questions he was asking the Secretary of the Department of Defence about Australia's position on the South China Sea—in particular, accusations of taking sides. The defence minister noted that the discussions were 'not in our national interest'. In a speech in the Senate on 17 March 2015 on the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank, Senator Dastyari presented what he himself described as, in his words, 'the Chinese view'. Did Senator Dastyari's links with China influence him in presenting what he himself called 'the Chinese view' in a speech in the Senate?

Senator Dastyari's acceptance of personal benefits from an entity or entities with links to the Chinese state and the carefully opaque way in which the payments have been described in the Register of Senators' Interests raise the inevitable question of whether Senator Dastyari, whether advertently or unwittingly, has allowed himself to be compromised. This is a very serious matter. It is much more serious than, for instance, the allegations which were made against the member for Fadden, Mr Robert, which caused him to lose his position in the ministry. Senator Dastyari is an extremely influential figure in the alternative government of Australia. If he has been compromised, that is a very grave matter. It is incumbent upon Senator Dastyari now to provide to the Senate a full explanation of the affair, a full account of the nature of his dealings with these two Chinese companies, and, in particular, a full explanation as to why it was that they were paying personal debts of Senator Dastyari. It is for Mr Shorten to insist that Senator Dastyari do so.