Political donor’s Victorian trip with Communist Party chiefs raised in NSW anti-corruption inquiry
Controversial donor Huang Xiangmo accompanied Communist Party chiefs on an official visit to Victoria in 2015, shortly after he allegedly delivered $100,000 in an Aldi bag to NSW Labor.
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Controversial Chinese political donor Huang Xiangmo accompanied a group of Communist Party chiefs on an official visit to the Victorian Parliament.
A bombshell New South Wales anti-corruption inquiry into political donations heard this month that the billionaire tried to get then-federal Labor leader Bill Shorten to put him in contact with his Victorian Labor colleagues to arrange the 2015 visit.
Their meeting came around the time Mr Huang, a property developer, allegedly delivered $100,000 in cash in an Aldi bag to NSW Labor’s Sydney headquarters.
He lost his permanent residency in Australia last year after a storm over his prolific donations to political parties.
The Herald Sun has uncovered photos of Mr Huang with the delegation from China’s Jiangxi province as they met Victoria’s parliamentary presiding officers in June 2015.
China’s Consulate-General in Sydney reported that the delegation was invited to Australia by senior Liberal Andrew Robb, who was the federal trade minister at the time.
While in Melbourne, the group also met with Premier Daniel Andrews but Mr Huang did not attend those talks.
Mr Huang’s translator, Tim Xu, told the Independent Commission Against Corruption inquiry his boss was a “local community leader” and “from time to time he helped to organise those meetings for delegations from China”.
Asked why Mr Huang was involved, given he was from a different province, Mr Xu said: “I wasn’t sure how he built up the relationship but I was aware of that delegation that he was involved with.”
Former NSW Labor boss Jamie Clements said Mr Huang tried to arrange the Victorian trip with Mr Shorten over dinner at a Sydney seafood restaurant in April 2015 — around the time Mr Huang allegedly delivered the Aldi shopping bag of money.
“I recall, Tim Xu asking, on behalf of Mr Huang, translating that he had a delegation coming and would Mr Shorten be able to help him get a meeting with Dan Andrews,” Mr Clements said.
Mr Clements said Mr Huang’s staff later checked in on why “Shorten hasn’t delivered on that”, so he “eventually fixed” the meeting with the Jiangxi delegation himself.
A report on the Victorian Parliament’s website said the delegation was visiting Melbourne “to explore trade and industry links with Victoria”, including agriculture, mining and tourism.
The group, led by Jiangxi’s Communist Party Secretary Qiang Wei, were welcomed by the parliament’s presiding officers Bruce Atkinson and Telmo Languiller.
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A spokeswoman for Mr Andrews said the delegation had been invited by Mr Robb.
“The Premier met members of the Jiangxi delegation when they visited Parliament House in Victoria. He did not meet Huang Xiangmo,” she said.
The delegation also met with the Australian Council for the Promotion of the Peaceful Reunification of China during its visit.
The council, which was led at the time by Mr Huang, is regarded as the peak organisation in the Chinese Communist Party’s United Front foreign influence activities in Australia.