Sam Dastyari resigns after being urged to quit by Bill Shorten
SAM Dastyari has fronted the Senate to explain explosive allegations about his close ties with a Chinese political donor.
NSW
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SAM Dastyari has fronted the Senate to explain explosive allegations about his close ties with a Chinese political donor.
He was forced to make a statement at 3pm that explained his remarks on the South China Sea dispute that breached Labor Party policy and allegations that he tipped off Chinese businessman Huang Xiangmo that he might be under surveillance by Australian security agencies.
It comes after he was forced to resign his frontbench position with the Labor party earlier today.
Opposition Leader Bill Shorten told reporters Labor was “deeply frustrated” with Senator Dastyari in a fiery press conference this afternoon.
In his statement, the embattled senator told the Senate Mr Huang was a regular attendee at Labor Party functions and “also attended many Liberal Party functions”.
He again rejected any suggestion he had “leaked intelligence information” to the businessman after reports he told Mr Huang they should leave their phones inside when they spoke at a face-to-face meeting in October last year.
There is no evidence that his phone was ever actually under surveillance.
“I spoke to him to tell him that I did not think it was appropriate that we have future contact,” Mr Dastyari said today.
“I thought it was a matter of common courtesy to say this face to face with Mr Huang. “Neither my office or I have spoken to Mr Huang since.”
Mr Dastyari, who resigned his senior senate positions this morning after Labor leader Bill Shorten demanded the resignation last night, was contrite over his “mischaracterisation” of a press conference he held in China on June 17, 2016 where he said Australia should keep out of the South China Sea dispute.
Mr Dastyari told the ABC earlier this year his statement at the press conference was a mumbled off-the-cuff response.
A leaked recording of the press conference surfaced yesterday that revealed his statement was more scripted and considered than he said.
Today, he blamed a memory lapse.
“A recent audio recording shocked me as it did not match my recollection of events,” Mr Dastyari said in his statement.
“I personally take responsibility for the subsequent mischaracterisation.
“When a public official makes a statement that contradicts events, there are consequences.
“For me, the consequence was being called last night by my leader, Bill Shorten, and being asked to resign from my position in the Labor Senate organisational leadership.”
On his pro-China remarks on the South China Sea, he said: “I let myself down and my party down by contradicting party policy and I paid the appropriate penalty.”
Dastyari rejected suggestions Mr Huang had requested the 2016 press conference.
“Mr Huang was included in the press conference as the presence of a prominent Chinese community leader would help attract better media coverage from Chinese language media and their target audience,” he said.
“This is standard media practice for Australian political parties from across the spectrum, when seeking to engage with multicultural communities.”
Earlier today Opposition Leader Bill Shorten said he had lost faith in Senator Dastyari following his significant lapse in judgment.
“That is why I have sacked him again,” Mr Shorten told reporters in Adelaide. “He has a long, long journey to rebuild trust.”
Senior Turnbull government ministers had zeroed in on Senator Dastyari after the leaked audio appeared to contradict his earlier assertion that he had “incorrectly” mumbled an answer to a question he should not have taken during a press conference with Chinese Communist Party-linked businessman Mr Huang.
Mr Shorten contacted Mr Dastyari last night and demanded his resignation from his frontbench position.
“I told Senator Dastyari that his mis-characterisation of how he came to make comments contradicting Labor policy made his position untenable,” Mr Shorten said.
“I also told him that while I accept his word that he never had, nor disclosed, any classified information, his handling of these matters showed a lack of judgment.”
“In June last year, I held a press conference where I made comments that were in breach of Labor Party policy. I have never denied this,” Mr Dastyari told the Senate this morning.
“The price I paid for that was high but appropriate.
“More recently, my characterisation of that press conference was called into question.
“A recent audio recording shocked me as it did not match my recollection of events.
“I take responsibility for the subsequent mis-characterisation.”
Mr Dastyari was also reported to have warned Mr Huang his phone was likely being bugged by intelligence agencies during a meeting in the businessman’s Sydney mansion in October 2016.
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“I’ve never had a briefing by any Australian security agency ever. I’ve never passed on any classified information,” Mr Dastyari said.
The most recent revelation confirmed Senator Dastyari had strayed from Labor’s position on the South China Sea by suggesting the party not become involved in the dispute.
China controversially claims islands in the area, a claim disputed by Australia and the United States, both of which have conducted freedom of navigation exercises in the area.
It comes after the News Corp revealed Mr Shorten urgently called ASIO’s top officials this week to check whether Mr Dastyari was a legitimate national security concern.
Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull has called for Mr Dastyari to resign from parliament despite the embattled Labor senator agreeing to quit his senior Senate positions.
Mr Turnbull wants Mr Dastyari to leave parliament over what he calls “disloyal conduct of the highest order”.
“If he refuses to resign, Shorten should dump him from the Labor Party and let him languish in contempt on the crossbench,” he told reporters.
Cory Bernardi couldn’t help himself when reporters quizzed him about Mr Dastyari and the Labor senator’s latest troubles over links to China.
“Today is the day they need to shanghai Sam Dastyari out of this place,” Senator Bernardi said on his way into Parliament House today.
“It’s not strike one, strike two or strike three. He has a repeated pattern of being captured by people that are very, very close to the Chinese government.”
Attorney-General George Brandis said it was “pathetically weak” for Mr Shorten to give Mr Dastyari another “summer sabbatical” to overcome his latest embarrassment.
“We’re entitled to know why Senator Dastyari undertook that deliberate, advertent act of sabotage of the Australian Labor Party’s foreign policy position at the behest of the man upon whom he was financially reliant,” Senator Brandis told parliament.
Senior Turnbull government ministers had demanded Senator Dastyari explain his actions or resign after it was revealed he told a billionaire Chinese donor his phone was under surveillance.
News Corp understands Mr Shorten contacted ASIO after hearing the allegations and was advised Senator Dastyari did not pose a security risk.
It is unclear whether Mr Shorten spoke to director-general Duncan Lewis, who is overseas, or acting director-general Wendy Southern. ASIO declined to comment.
In a statement, Mr Shorten said he received “regular confidential briefings from our security agencies”.
“I don’t discuss the detail of those briefings with anyone, including Senator Dastyari, however, I do not believe the senator is the subject of any national security investigation,” he said.
Mr Turnbull demanded Mr Dastyari explain the claims he had given surveillance information to Mr Huang, a Chinese property developer.
“Here is an Australian senator who has gone to a meeting with a foreign national with close links to a foreign government and advises that foreign national, Mr Huang, to put their phones inside to avoid the possibility of surveillance,” Mr Turnbull said.
“We expect Australian senators to be on the side of Australia, not assisting foreign governments and foreign allegiances.”
Mr Dastyari denies he gave any classified information to Mr Huang.
He resigned from Labor’s frontbench last year after revelations he had asked Mr Huang to pay for his expenses and echoed Chinese government talking points when speaking to the Chinese media about the South China Sea.
His comments came soon after Labor announced it would allow the navy to sail through disputed waters, if elected.
Mr Huang immediately pulled a $400,000 donation to Labor and then stood alongside Senator Dastyari at the press conference the following day.