Labor’s Sam Dastyari vows to donate China payment to charity

LABOR’S Sam Dastyari will donate a payment received from a China donar to charity, but the Liberals say it “doesn’t pass the sniff test”.

Labor Senator Sam Dastyari will donate $1600 to charity after he asked a Chinese donor to foot the bill for some of his travel allowance in 2015. Picture: AAP/Mick Tsikas

LABOR frontbencher Sam Dastyari plans to donate more than $1600 to charity after it was revealed he asked a Chinese donor to foot his bill after he exceeded his travel allowance.

Mr Dastyari admitted the sum of $1670.82 had been paid by the Top Education Institute, a Sydney-based Chinese higher education provider. In a tweet, he described the Fairfax media report of this as a “Fair yarn”.

“While fully disclosed, understand concern, so I’m donating the amount to charity,” he said.

Fairfax said a Finance Department invoice issued on April 8, 2015, shows Mr Dastyari exceeded his travel budget by $1,670.82. He sent the bill to the Top Education Institute which paid it in full.

A spokesman for Mr Dastyari said that had been fully disclosed in the register of MP interests more than a year ago.

But that didn’t satisfy Liberal Senator Cory Bernardi who said there was something really smelly about all this.

He said the Top Education Institute had close links to the Chinese government. “My question is has Senator Dastyari’s bill to the Commonwealth of Australia been paid effectively by the Chinese government or their front company. Do we have our very own Manchurian candidate,” he said on Sky News.

Mr Bernardi said Mr Dastyari owed the Senate an explanation. “It’s wrong, it doesn’t pass the sniff test and I think there’s a whole lot more to discover here,” he said.