Sam Dastyari denies Chinese phone-tap tip-off
BILL Shorten has put Labor senator Sam Dastyari on notice after reports he told a well-known Chinese political donor that his phone might be tapped.
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BILL Shorten has put Labor senator Sam Dastyari on notice after reports he told a well-known Chinese political donor that his phone might be tapped.
The claims have prompted the Turnbull government to call for Senator Dastyari to come clean on his discussions with Huang Xiangmo.
The senator is under fire over reports he told Mr Huang they should leave their phones inside when they met at the businessman’s Sydney mansion in October last year.
The reported exchange took place during a face-to-face meeting, just weeks after Senator Dastyari resigned from the frontbench over his earlier dealings with Mr Huang.
Mr Shorten has spoken to his colleague and says Senator Dastyari has never made a secret of the fact the meeting took place.
“He has again confirmed that he did not pass on any classified information, because he didn’t have any,” the Labor leader said in a statement.
“I have made it clear to Senator Dastyari that this is not the first time his judgment has been called into question, but I certainly expect it to be the last.”
Foreign Minister Julie Bishop wants Senator Dastyari to reveal every discussion he’s had with the Chinese benefactor.
“If (the allegations) are accurate they will show that Senator Dastyari was acting against Australia’s national interest, against Australia’s national security concerns,” she told reporters in Canberra on Wednesday. “That would make his position as a senator untenable.”
Attorney-General George Brandis questioned Senator Dastyari’s loyalty, saying the incident was a test for Mr Shorten.
“Why would anyone acting in good faith warn a benefactor to have a conversation in circumstances that are only consistent with engaging in counter-surveillance activity?” he told reporters.
“Why would an innocent person do that? What was he trying to hide?” Senator Brandis will be pursuing answers in the upper house on Wednesday. Senator Dastyari believed his phone was being tapped by government agencies, including the US government, Fairfax Media said.
The high-profile senator’s earlier fall from grace followed revelations he’d allowed Mr Huang to pay a personal debt and reportedly took a pro-China stance on the South China Sea which was at odds with Labor’s position. Senator Dastyari denies any wrongdoing.
“After the events of last year, I spoke to Mr Huang to tell him that I did not think it was appropriate that we have future contact,” he said in a statement. “I thought it was a matter of common courtesy to say this face-to-face.” Senator Dastyari insisted he has never been briefed by any security agency, or received any classified information.
“I reject any assertion that I did anything other than put to Mr Huang gossip being spread by journalists.”