High Court upholds foreign interference laws after challenge by former Labor staffer John Zhang

The High Court has ruled search warrants issued in an investigation into an alleged Chinese plot to infiltrate the New South Wales parliament were valid.

The High Court has dismissed a challenge to the validity of warrants issued during a probe into an alleged Chinese bid to secretly influence the New South Wales parliament.

Former NSW Labor staffer John Zhang mounted the challenge, questioning the validity of three search warrants used to seize his property as part of an Australian Federal Police investigation.

Chinese born Mr Zhang had worked as a staffer in Labor backbencher Shaoquett Moselmane’s office between October 2018 and September 2020.

The AFP alleges that between about July 1, 2019 and June 25, 2020, Mr Zhang and unnamed others were “acting on behalf of Chinese State and Party apparatus” in a “private social media chat group and in other fora” with Mr Moselmane.

Police allege Mr Zhang and the others were “covertly” trying to get Mr Moselmane to advance China’s interests without him knowing.

Mr Zhang has denied the allegations.

He argued before the High Court that AFP warrants used to seize his computers and other electronic equipment as part of their investigation were invalid, because they weren’t specific enough about the alleged crime.

Officers had removed Mr Zhang’s mobile phones, computers and other electronic devices during the search and took steps to extract data from the removed devices.

They retained the copied data and some seized material, with the investigation ongoing.

Mr Zhang had sought to quash each search warrant and also asked the court for a mandatory injunction requiring the seized and copied material be returned to him or destroyed.

He also argued the offences criminalising reckless foreign interference, for which the warrants were sought, infringed on the implied freedom of political communication.

But the High Court threw out the case on Wednesday, finding the warrants valid.

The court, in a unanimous decision, said Mr Zhang’s argument that each warrant had failed to comply with the Crimes Act because it was “unclear” who the foreign principal and the target was, was “untenable”.

The court said in its judgment each warrant identified the foreign principal as the government of the People’s Republic of China and also ordered Mr Zhang to pay costs.

Originally published as High Court upholds foreign interference laws after challenge by former Labor staffer John Zhang