A Coalition MP is facing tough questions about her links to China after struggling her way through an extraordinary interview last night.
Read on for all the latest news from Canberra in our live politics blog.
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'She lied!': Dastyari gets agitated
Sam Dastyari spoke to Sky News political editor David Speers about Gladys Liu this afternoon, and it's fair to say he got quite animated.
As you may recall, Mr Dastyari resigned from the Senate a couple of years ago because of his own dealings with China. Now he says the Prime Minister is applying a different standard to Ms Liu, who is a Liberal MP.
"Let's be clear. I don't know enough about her situation to say whether or not she should resign. That's a matter for her and that's a matter for Scott Morrison," Mr Dastyari said from his spot in front of the camera, which was on the side of a noisy street for some reason.
"But let me be perfectly clear here. The Prime Minister himself set a test when it came to me. I failed that test. I rightly should have resigned from parliament, and I did resign from parliament.
"But this idea that she'd been a member of these organisations for perhaps up to over 10 years, and pretended and lied that she wasn't a member of them, I mean David, it just doesn't pass the believability test."
Speers asked whether Ms Liu's apparent failure to remember her role in the organisations, which have been linked to the Chinese Communist Party, meant she had "done something wrong".
"Yes! Yes it does! I mean David, you saw that trainwreck of an interview last night. I mean frankly, how do you deduce that she didn't lie throughout that interview? How do you deduce that there isn't more to this story?" Mr Dastyari argued.
"Here's what I believe, and what people are telling me. My phone has been running hot all day, people are calling me with allegations and stories. I suspect a lot of them are going to start to be run in newspapers over the coming days. Let's see whether or not she's held to the same test that people like I were.
"Does anyone honestly believe that if she wasn't a member of the Liberal Party, the Prime Minister and others wouldn't be calling for her scalp right now?"
In defence of Ms Liu today, the government has compared her situation to the one that forced Mr Dastyari out of parliament, suggesting his behaviour was in a "different league".
"Do you agree that this is in a 'different league', as the Prime Minister put it, to your own experiences here?" Speers prodded.
"To remind people, you asked a donor with links to the Chinese government to pay a travel bill. Another Chinese company paid a legal bill for you. Then of course you stood up and echoed the Chinese line on the South China Sea. And apparently, reportedly, advised (Chinese billionaire) Huang Xiangmo about counter-surveillance measures. That is a different scale."
"Rubbish. Rubbish. David, let's cut through the rubbish here," Mr Dastyari shot back, growing increasingly agitated.
"This is someone who has raised maybe $3 million to $4 million dollars for the Liberal Party from the Melbourne Chinese community. Who had, according to the Herald Sun, had to return $300,000 of donations."
That is a reference to this story, which you can read at the Herald Sun.
"I'm not defending my own actions. I resigned from parliament, I took responsibility," Mr Dastyari continued.
"I did what most politicians who come on your show never do and say, 'You know what? I am in the wrong here. I've done wrong, I need to resign. That is the best thing for my party and my life.' Nobody does that!"
"Is there equivalence here, with Gladys Liu?" Speers interjected.
"Of course there is. She has raised millions for the Liberal Party. She has lied about being a member of these organisations, and frankly, let's not pussyfoot around this, there is a lot more that is about to come out about Gladys Liu," the former senator said.
"You saw the interview! She lied on Sky! I love, David, that your defence is lying on Sky isn't an offence in itself. I believe it is!"
That made Speers chuckle.
"I agree. It's a bad look for her," he said.
Round two: 'You lost your s***'
Ben Fordham just had Michael McCormack and Joel Fitzgibbon on his 2GB radio show – at the same time – to discuss their Question Time blow-up.
It started awkwardly enough.
"G'day Michael."
"G'day Joel."
Mr Fitzgibbon asked the Deputy Prime Minister whether he was OK. Mr McCormack responded that he was "fine".
Fordham tried to drill down on the cause of the pair's extraordinary clash on the floor of the House. He didn't have to dig far.
Mr McCormack said he had expected Mr Fitzgibbon to be "more magnanimous" today, and was frustrated by his sledging across the chamber.
"He continued to just mouth off," he said.
"A bit of quiet and respectful attention might have been better."
Mr Fitzgibbon wasn't having it.
"You completely lost it in Question Time today, when all I was interjecting with was why don't you do something. And you lost your s***, because you are under pressure from rural communities," he said.
He accused the government of doing "two-fifths of bugger all" to prepare Australian farmers for drought.
"Six years ago they tore up the agreement we had with the states to address a comprehensive strategic drought plan, then they sat on their hands for most of the six years," he said.
"We needed real and meaningful assistance for our farmers, he failed to deliver, and that's why he lost it in Question Time today.
"They haven't been doing the work and now they've been found out."
Mr McCormack defended the government's record, saying Mr Fitzgibbon's argument was "just nonsense". Fordham also stepped in to stick up for him.
"I think that if the Deputy PM could make it rain he would, but he doesn't have that power. I think people in the bush don't want to hear you argue, they want some bipartisanship," the host said.
He ended the chat by asking when the pair would "catch up and break bread".
"I'm happy to have a cup of tea right now," Mr McCormack said, inviting Mr Fitzgibbon to his office.
"Not right now. I'm on chamber duty in the parliament," Mr Fitzgibbon replied, with a distinct lack of enthusiasm.
But he agreed to meet with Mr McCormack at some point in the next week.
"We almost had a game of golf in Wagga Wagga not long ago, we're good mates," he said.
You can listen to the audio below, courtesy of the Ben Fordham Show on 2GB.
Photos of Big Mac's blow-up
You've seen my crappy screenshots of that insane blow-up during Question Time. Now enjoy the work of a professional photographer.
Bic Mac cannot be tamed.
Big Mac absolutely explodes
Traditionally, Deputy Prime Minister Michael McCormack's answers in Question Time are by far the dullest.
Think of them as the political nerd's opportunity to pop to the loo.
So imagine how startled I was today when Mr McCormack suddenly exploded out of his usual monotone and – there is no other way to describe this – absolutely lost his s***.
It seems Mr McCormack was fed up with the repeated interjections of Labor MP Joel Fitzgibbon.
As you read this quote, imagine Mr McCormack – famously nicknamed "Big Mac" by the Prime Minister – getting exponentially louder and finishing with enough decibels to drown out the engines of a jumbo jet.
I do not use all caps lightly, let alone all caps plus bold, but believe me, in this case it's accurate.
"I don't know why you're yelling so much. This is helping all country communities, member for Hunter, it's time you CAME TO THE TABLE AND JUST BEHAVED YOURSELF OCCASIONALLY. THERE ARE COUNTRY PEOPLE DOING IT TOUGH, AND YOU WON'T STOP YELLING AT THEM! YOU SHOULD BEHAVE YOURSELF! YOU ARE A DISGRACE! YOU ARE AN ABSOLUTE DISGRACE, AND YOU KNOW YOU ARE!" he bellowed across the chamber.
Mr McCormack kept going for a few seconds even after his microphone had been turned off.
Behold, the story told in pictures. Note the swift reddening of Big Mac's face to a level resembling that of his predecessor, Barnaby Joyce.
Mr Fitzgibbon rose to make a point of order, but Speaker Tony Smith told him to cool his jets.
"I'm allowing you both to calm down for a second," Mr Smith said.
"I'm calm, Mr Speaker," said Mr Fitzgibbon.
"Hmmmmm," Mr Smith breathed, with the sort of sceptical tone you would expect from a parent who can't decide whether to be angry or amused.
His scepticism turned out to be warranted, as Mr Fitzgibbon did a Big Mac and spontaneously combusted halfway through his point.
"How is the Deputy Prime Minister's unhinged attack on me relevant to the question which is asked? The farmers just WANT HIM TO DO SOMETHING!"
Again, the pictures tell the story. Keep an eye on Tony Burke's face in the background.
The Speaker promptly shut Mr Fitzgibbon down, Mr McCormack resumed his answer as though nothing untoward had happened, and Question Time continued on its less than merry way.
Bizarre situation in the Senate
While everyone was focusing on Gladys Liu, Labor Senator Kim Carr delivered a rather extraordinary speech over in the Senate.
Mr Carr slammed legislation targeting vegan activists for trespassing on farmers' land and publishing their personal information online – even though he intends to vote for it, in line with his party's position.
He said the bill's definition of agricultural land was too broad, and could lead to unintended consequences.
"To act in haste and to draft legislation which is badly thought through may have serious consequences for some considerable time," Mr Carr said.
Yesterday we reported that Mr Carr was unhappy about Labor repeatedly "capitulating" to the government on major legislation, and that he told his party's caucus meeting as much.
At that meeting, Labor confirmed it would try to amend the vegan activist legislation, but would still vote to pass it even if those amendments failed.
The party's rules forbid its members from crossing the floor to vote against caucus positions.
So we ended up with today's bizarre situation in the Senate, where Mr Carr essentially argued against the bill while indicating he would vote for it.
Dastyari speaks out on Liu
Sam Dastyari, who was forced to resign from the Senate over his own China connections, says Gladys Liu needs to answer "some serious questions".
It’s clear @GladysLiuMP needs to answer some serious questions. Her statement is shocking. She should be held to the same standard that I was – a standard the PM set. I resigned. I took responsibility. That was the right decision in my circumstances.
Mr Dastyari's China controversy centered on his relationship with a Chinese billionaire, Huang Xiangmo, who was living in Australia at the time but has since been barred from entering the country.
The Coalition accused Mr Dastyari of promoting Chinese policy in an attempt to get donations from the businessman.
Peter Dutton labelled him a "double agent" working for China.
Labor's current politicians have drawn parallels between Mr Dastyari and Ms Liu today, saying the latter's situation is a "test" for Prime Minister Scott Morrison.
"I can recall the Liberal Party making Sam Dastyari a test of Bill Shorten's leadership. Well this is Scott Morrison's test," Penny Wong said this morning.
Fallout from MP's trainwreck interview
Liberal MP Gladys Liu is facing renewed questions about her links to China after struggling through an absolute trainwreck of an interview last night.
Ms Liu was interviewed – or perhaps skewered would be a better word – by Sky News host Andrew Bolt, who asked why her name appeared on documents from a body connected to the Chinese Communist Party.
She claimed she could not recall her role in the association, and repeatedly refused to criticise China or its President Xi Jinping.
Early this afternoon, Ms Liu issued a statement addressing the criticism her interview had drawn.
"Last night in a TV interview I was not clear and I should have chosen my words better. As a new member of parliament I will be learning from this experience," Ms Liu said.
"Australia's longstanding position on the South China Sea is consistent and clear. We do not take sides on competing territorial claims but we call on all claimants to resolve disputes peacefully and in accordance with international law.
"Our relationship with China is one of mutual benefit and underpinned by our Comprehensive Strategic Partnership. China is not a democracy and is run under an authoritarian system.
"We have always been and will continue to be clear-eyed about our political differences, but do so based on mutual respect, as two sovereign nations."
Ms Liu also confirmed her "previous association" with a number of "community groups" – the organisations she could not recall her involvement in last night.
She acknowledged her role as an honorary president of the United Chinese Commerce Association of Australia.
"My involvement was done for no other reason that to support the promotion of trade between Australia and Hong Kong, and to encourage individuals in the Australia-Hong Kong community to undertake community work," she said.
She was also an honorary president of the Australian Jiangmen General Commercial Association, and had an honorary role with the Guangdong Overseas Exchange Association.
Ms Liu said she was no longer associated with any of the three groups.
"I have resigned from many organisations and I am in the process of auditing any organisations who may have added me as a member without my knowledge or consent," she said.
You might have missed the interview in question, so let's run through the transcript. The whole thing was pretty extraordinary. Settle in for a long read.
First, Ms Liu claimed she could not recall whether she was on the committee of an association connected to the Chinese Communist Party.
Bolt: "Were you on the committee of two chapters of the China Overseas Guangdong Exchange Association, one in Guangdong from 2003-2015 and the other in Shandong?"
Liu: "Well, good to be with you Andrew. I can tell you that I cannot recall, if as is reported that from 2003-2015, 12 years long, that if I can't recall, I can't be an active member of that council, can I?"
Bolt: "How can you not recall a membership of 12 years? I mean we have just shown your name listed there. I've got another document I can show you, of your name listed in the other association. That is two associations, associations lasting 12 years, and you can't recall it?"
Liu: "Well I can tell you that I have never been a member of the council and yeah, it can happen. They can put your name there without your knowledge."
Bolt then pointed out that the association in question fell under the umbrella of a Chinese propaganda outfit. Ms Liu claimed to be ignorant of that fact.
Bolt: "This association, which you say you can't remember being part of for 12 years, is under the arm of China's United Front Work Department which President Xi Xinping has called one of the Chinese Communist Party's three magic weapons. In what way do you understand the United Front to be a weapon?"
Liu: "Well I will leave this to Professor Hamilton or other experts, but to me …"
Bolt: "No, no, no, no. I was quoting the Chinese President Xi Xinping, not Clive Hamilton. He said it was a magic weapon."
Liu: "Well as I said, I don't know this organisation, these two organisations, and when I looked at them, the position of the other organisation that I was a member or, in fact a secretary for, it was the Chinese Professional Business Association. I did mention the organisation in my inaugural speech and I was proudly the secretary for years of that organisation. However I have no knowledge that that organisation was part of whatever influential China body. If it was, it was definitely not during my time."
Bolt: "You have never heard of the United Front Work Department? China's biggest propaganda outfit, very active in Australia? Never heard of it?"
Liu: "I have. I have. I have. But it was, like you, through the media. I have no firsthand knowledge."
Moving on, Bolt pressed Ms Liu for her opinion on China's actions in the South China Sea. She repeatedly refused to criticise China.
Bolt: "The Permanent Court of Arbitration in the Hague has said that China taking over the South China Sea was unlawful. Do you agree that it was unlawful?"
Liu: "This is a matter for the Foreign Minister. I definitely put – I would put Australia's interests first, and that is exactly what I have been doing. I look after my electorate of Chisolm and I work with the government to put interests of Australians first."
Bolt: "Well the government's position is, of course, that the theft was unlawful. It is challenging China's theft of the sea. Do you support the government's position that China stealing the South China Sea is unlawful?"
Liu: "My understanding is a lot of countries are trying to claim ownership, sovereignty of the South China Sea because of various reasons, and my position is with the Australian government."
Bolt: "Can I just hear you say it, that you support the Australian government's position that the theft of the South China Sea by China is unlawful? Is it unlawful, yes or no?"
Liu: "Well as I said, I want to make sure that Australians' interests were put first and foremost and if it's going to affect our trade or our air travelling, then that is something that I would not support."
Bolt: "Well in fact, it does affect our trade. Sixty per cent of it goes through that sea. We have been warned by China to stay away. We are thinking of challenging that with our navy, and you are here not able to actually support the government's position that it was unlawful. Is there some problem with you agreeing that it was unlawful? It has been held so under international law. Why are you not going along with that?"
Liu: "I never said that I'm not going along with it. What I'm saying is I always put Australia's interests first. After all, I am a member of the parliament for the Australian government and so of course I will put Australia's interests first and whatever – as I said in my maiden speech too, I will always want to have a good relationship between Australia and China and I will put Australia's interests first."
Bolt: "Well, Australia's interests with China is to have the South China Sea not stolen by China. Everyone listening can hear that you are reluctant to go along with that fairly clear proposition which is, in fact, your party's position too."
I think it’s fair to say Gladys Liu just knocked off Christopher “I’m a fixer” Pyne and George “Metadata” Brandis for the hotly contested title of Worst Coalition TV Interview In History.
Kudos to Andrew Bolt for an incredible interview with Gladys Liu that served to only confirm suspicions about her pro China ties and also raise fresh questions about her fitness for the Australian parliament. Her refusal to condemn China’s aggression was chilling.@skynewsaust
Next, Bolt brought up an event Ms Liu had attended at Crown Casino last year. The meeting included some groups with links to the Chinese Communist Party. While there, Ms Liu said a resolution should be sent to federal MPs calling on the Australian government to be friendlier to China.
During her interview with Bolt, Ms Liu did not dispute those facts.
Bolt: "Can you now tell us in what way should Australia be more friendly to China? Can you give some examples?"
Liu: "Well, that is what our Foreign Minister has been doing very well. And she has been looking at the relationship between all countries and she has been talking on the interests, for the interests of Australia with other foreign ministers."
Bolt: "But this was a resolution only last year. In what way has the government been friendlier to China than it was last year? Last year your resolution, you were part of, said the media was too hostile and the government should be friendlier. In what way should it be friendlier than it was last year?"
Liu: "No I think that's a bit of a misunderstanding. I was in the room when the 40 organisations met. I wasn't participating. I didn't speak and I just be there to make sure that I know what they are doing and what they are thinking."
Bolt: "You say you didn't speak, but I just quoted you. You just agreed that yes, you did tell the meeting something."
Liu: "Yes, when I was invited to say something, and I say yes, if you want to let your member of parliament know your position, do that. That's what I always encourage people to do."
Bolt ended the interview by prodding Ms Liu to criticise Xi Jinping. Again, she would not.
Bolt: "Xi Jinping has made himself dictator for life. He is cracking down on dissidents, human rights activists. He has imprisoned Christians, he has imprisoned Uighurs in re-education camps, he is threatening Taiwan. Do you consider Xi Jinping a dictator?"
Liu: "Well honestly, I have been focusing on serving the seat of Chisolm and that's exactly what I have done since the election. I only had one day off in the last 3.5 months. I don't really …"
Bolt: "Gladys, Gladys, excuse me. You were born in Hong Kong. At the moment, you have seen in your home place people in their millions at times, 1.7 million, in their millions, protesting against what China is doing there and you don't have any opinion on Xi Jinping?"
Liu: "OK, so if you want to talk about China, let me just tell you one thing. I was born in Hong Kong and I never stepped into China before I came to Australia. I had the Hong Kong ID card. I never held a Chinese passport. I had the Hong Kong travelling document and then I've got the Australian passport. In terms of Hong Kong, it is very, very sad for anyone to see what has happened."
Bolt: "But Gladys, a simple question. Is Xi Jinping a dictator?"
Liu: "That is not a question for me to answer, but I can tell you about Hong Kong. It is very …"
Bolt: "I don't want to know about Hong Kong. I am asking you about Xi Jinping, the dictator of communist China, and you don't have an opinion about him."
Liu: "I do have an opinion, but I'm not going to use the word dictator. He is in their system an elected chairman or president, they call it, for China."
Bolt: "Gladys Liu, are you in effect a spokesman for the Chinese Communist regime in Australia?"
Liu: "The simple answer is no."
Well, there you go. You're up to speed on the interview.
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Dreyfus pushes for integrity commission
Mark Dreyfus is speaking about the push for a federal integrity commission at the National Press Club.
In short, he doesn't like the details of the government's proposal, and thinks it is taking too long to put legislation before parliament.
"More than 20 months after Labor’s announcement that we would establish a national integrity commission, and more than eight months after the Liberal government announced the same commitment, we still don’t have from the government so much as an exposure draft for legislation to establish such a body," Mr Dreyfus said.
"You have to ask just how serious this government is about a national integrity commission."
Everyone says they want an integrity commission – the Coalition, Labor and all the crossbenchers. The problem so far is that they can't agree on the details.
Hanson calls for an investigation
Pauline Hanson has called for the AFP and ASIO to investigate Gladys Liu's links to China.
Speaking to Chris Kenny on Sky News, she said the Australian people were "very concerned" about Chinese "infiltration".
"If people think that maybe we've got someone who's infiltrated the Liberal Party into our parliament, it's of grave concern. I don't know if that'd be the case, but questions need to be answered," Ms Hanson said.
"We know that China wants to take over and be the first world country, to lead the world, and that's what they're trying to do. Infiltrate countries around the world, take it over and control it.
"If anyone's in this parliament who doesn't have their first allegiance to the Australian people, well I want to know why and I want an investigation into it."
Ms Hanson said Ms Liu was "very evasive" during her interview with Andrew Bolt last night.
On another subject, Kenny asked Ms Hanson if she regretted dragging Jacqui Lambie's son Dylan into the debate over drug testing welfare recipients.
"No, why should I? She's raised this on the floor of parliament herself in the past. She's put it out there herself personally, about her son," Ms Hanson said.
"If you are not going to pass this legislation based on your personal experiences, I think it does make it questionable. I want to know why."
Ms Lambie has spoken powerfully in the past about Dylan's addiction to ice, which he eventually overcame after almost 18 months in rehab.
She says she will not support drug testing for welfare recipients unless the government significantly boosts rehabilitation services.
Ms Hanson did not accept that position.
"That's a weak excuse," she said.
"This (legislation) is a starting point. Let's start with this. Because I've got families that want answers to their kids' drug addictions."
Three Australians detained in Iran
The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade has confirmed it is providing consular assistance to the families of three Australians who have been detained in Iran.
One British-Australian woman has been held behind bars for almost a year. The other two detainees, a British-Australian citizen and her Australian boyfriend, were arrested in recent months.
DFAT urged Australians travelling to or through Iran to follow the advice on its Smartraveller website. That advice is currently "reconsider your need to travel", though the highest warning level ("do not travel") applies in some parts of the country.
There is a risk that foreigners travelling in Iran could be arbitrarily detained or arrested.
