‘Sichuan Sam’ slurs could come back to bite government

THE government is celebrating claiming Sam Dastyari’s scalp, but their campaign against the problem senator could see the Coalition punished.

ANALYSIS

BRASH, boisterous and a big fan of his own abilities, Sam Dastyari made more enemies in four years in the Senate than many colleagues do over decades.

But it was his friendships which brought him down.

And that means his story of political decline is much bigger than the unhappy fate of an ebullient young senator.

It is about whether some foreign influences on our political system are more offensive than others. Specifically, that Chinese intrusions are worse than those by others.

And this question would not have risen with the force it has were it not for Senator Dastyari’s friendship with Huang Xiangmo, the Chinese businessman who lives here and has contributed money to both the Liberal and Labor parties.

As a Labor Party functionary and a senator, Sam Dastyari was an admirer of Mr Huang and felt free to tap him for money when it suited. It was a cosy relationship for both men.

They were so close Senator Dastyari wanted to speak to him personally one final time, to tell him he could no longer speak to him personally because of the controversy around a press conference Mr Huang had organised for Chinese journalists, and at which the Labor man had spoken in favour of Beijing’s South China Sea policy in contradiction of his party’s.

It is suggested by some that not only did Senator Dastyari boast of his friendship with Mr Huang, he skited to others he had advised him to park his mobile phone inside while they had that final chat outside his house.

We don’t know his version of that front yard farewell because Senator Dastyari has declined to comment directly on it.

Sam Dastyari made a lot of enemies while he was in parliament, but it was his friendships that undid him. Picture: Perry Duffin/AAP

Among his enemies was the government leadership, although some had a sneaking affection for the Labor man.

But he became a target too juicy to ignore and ministers lined up to accuse him of exaggerated offences just short of treason. Immigration Minister Peter Dutton went further and claimed, with no evidence, Senator Dastyari was a double agent.

Presumably he meant he was working for both the Australian and Chinese authorities.

The more the Government piled into “Shanghai Sam” or “Sichuan Sam”, the more the hostility seemed aimed at Chinese rather than him.

Beijing took it that way and made complaints about “Cold War” rhetoric.

A domestic consequence was that some of the voters in the Bennelong by-election — a seat with close to 70,000 residents born in mainland China or Hong Kong — might have considered this a racist slight against them.

It came in parallel formation with Government plans to restrict foreign donations and certain commercial relationships. In both cases the Chinese were central to the debate.

A significant proportion of the Bennelong electorate might not have the command of English to discern the political campaign against Dastyari and Labor from any implied racism.

These people live in Australia because it is a better place to reside than is China. But as well as being Australians they are faithful to their Chinese roots.

It could be that in bringing down a Labor senator the Government has created another problem for itself in the by-election.

The campaign that led to bringing down Sam Dastyari could prove problematic for the Turnbull Government. Picture: Sam Ruttyn

All because of the friendships of an Australian who was born in Iran.

The senator’s political crash also points to the ill-fated roles of other former party secretaries in various parliaments.

The list of NSW secretaries who moved to state and federal parliaments in the past 17 years includes John Della Bosca, Eric Roozendaal, Mark Arbib, Karl Bitar, Matt Thistlethwaite, and Sam Dastyari.

Mr Bitar never entered a parliament, so toss in ex-Victorian ALP secretary David Feeney — who might have to quit his seat of Batman over citizenship issues — and some will see a pattern.

They were the party’s right-wing generals in the ALP’s biggest state from 1990 to 2013. Apart from Mr Thistlethwaite, they’ve had unhappy careers in elected politics.

Mr Della Bosca and Mr Roozeendaal quit the NSW Legislative Council before their terms were up, Mr Arbib left the Senate after helping remove Kevin Rudd as Prime Minister. Then came Mr Thistlethwaite who remains in federal Parliament, and Senator Dastyari.