Labor frontbencher Sam Dastyari is under fire over China payment

LABOR frontbencher Sam Dastyari is under fire after it was revealed he asked a Chinese donor to foot his bill after he exceeded his travel allowance.

Labor Senator Sam Dastyari will donate the payment for a Chinese donor to charity.

HIGH-profile Labor senator Sam Dastyari has conceded he should have paid a $1670 travel bill himself instead of asking a Chinese donor to cover it.

Outspoken Coalition backbenchers labelled the Sydney senator the “Manchurian candidate” and called on Opposition Leader Bill Shorten to consider whether Mr Dastyari is a “fit and proper” person to be in parliament.

Labor heavyweights defended the newly promoted shadow minister, arguing the issue had only come to light because Mr Dastyari had openly declared the payment on his public declaration of interests instead of hiding it.

The Department of Finance issued the opposition consumer affairs spokesman with the bill after he had spent more than the $95,000 in annual travel entitlements for himself and staff, which ­includes trips to Canberra every year.

When the bill arrived, Mr Dastyari asked the Sydney-based Top Education Institute, which is run by Chinese businessman Minshen Zhu, to pay.

The businessman was a delegate to the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference in Beijing in 2014.

Mr Dastyari addressed the matter in parliament yesterday, saying he had since given the payment to charity. “On reflection I should have paid that amount myself. I take full responsibility and I’ve donated that amount to charity,” he said.

Liberal Senator Cory Bernardi was critical of Mr Dastyari.

But that didn’t satisfy Liberal Senator Cory Bernardi who said the donation had “all the hallmarks of a dodgy deal”.

“A senator who owes a debt to the Commonwealth for mismanaging his electorate budget is now being bailed out by a company that is closely linked to the Chinese Government,” Senator Bernardi told 7.30.

“The director of it has very close links to the Chinese Government.

“That is cause for a Senate inquiry.”

The Greens echoed Senator Bernardi’s comments.

“Senator Dastyari has certainly overstepped any reasonable way of engaging with overseas, well cashed up interests,” Greens Senator Lee Rhiannon said.

“Senator Dastyari should make a personal explanation about what he received from this overseas donor linked with the Top Education Institute and anything else he needs to reveal to the Senate.

“Otherwise there could be certainly grounds for an inquiry and the Greens would look closely at any terms of reference.”