Special treatment and a one-on-one lunch with Peter Dutton: how Huang lobbied for a visa

Chinese Communist Party-aligned billionaire Huang Xiangmo paid tens of thousands of dollars to a former Liberal minister to secure a one-on-one meeting with Peter Dutton as Mr Huang mounted a back-room campaign to win Australian citizenship.

The former Liberal minister, Santo Santoro, arranged the lunch meeting with Mr Dutton, who was the Turnbull government's immigration minister at the time, at a Chinese restaurant in Sydney in 2016.

Huang Xiangmo at his palatial Mosman home before he was refused Australian citizenship.Credit: James Brickwood

The lunch was held in a private dining room, according to sources familiar with the gathering, and provided Mr Huang with direct access to a Cabinet minister in a way not often available to most people.

Mr Dutton and Mr Santoro, who is now a Queensland lobbyist, deny Mr Huang's citizenship bid was discussed at the lunch. Mr Huang ultimately failed in his attempt after ASIO objected to his links to the Chinese Communist Party.

But an Age, Sydney Morning Herald and Four Corners investigation can reveal that Mr Dutton did give special treatment on citizenship to Mr Huang’s wife and two children in 2015 by empowering Labor MP Sam Dastyari to conduct a private citizenship ceremony for them.

Citizenship ceremonies are almost always held in public with private “special purpose” conferrals usually only granted for applicants who are ill, have urgent needs or are unable to attend a typical town hall ceremony.

Masterken’s Seafood Restaurant in Sydney's Chinatown. Credit: Jessica Hromas

The special conferral allowed Mr Huang’s family to expedite their citizenship by weeks or even months, and was granted by Mr Dutton after he was told by Mr Dastyari that the family wanted to travel overseas.

Mr Huang’s family now runs his business interests in Australia since he has been banned from the country.

Recordings have separately emerged showing Mr Santoro claiming Mr Dutton was one of his “best friends” and that, in return for payment of at least $10,000, Mr Santoro could provide clients access to Mr Dutton’s office to help efforts to expedite migration applications. Mr Santoro is a former factional ally of Mr Dutton.

Mr Santoro is recorded saying: “There is nobody else anywhere who is better placed than me to help you through this particular part of the project. Nobody. ... I can go to somebody in the Minister’s office and say ‘can you have a close look at this'."

The news comes after the Age, Herald and Four Corners investigation has already revealed a fundraising event for former Prime Minister Tony Abbott was held at a golf club, 70km from his electorate, controlled by two Chinese Communist Party linked businessmen.

The investigation has also revealed a campaign of influence by Chinese interests that stretched from bullying local councils to questioning two Australian residents about their dealings with Malcolm Turnbull's senior China adviser.

Mr Huang's wife, Fiona Huang.Credit: Tamara Dean

Mr Dastyari, who resigned in 2017 in disgrace over his own dealings with Mr Huang, said he had written to Mr Dutton asking him to grant the Huang family expedited citizenship.

Another senior Liberal party official and fundraiser had also assured him that they would lobby Mr Dutton on Mr Huang’s behalf.

“Peter Dutton needs to be held accountable for what happened here,” Mr Dastyari said.

“I thought there was a snowflake's chance in hell that this was going to get approved and the pace and speed of which it got approved at the time surprised me, and in hindsight concerns me.”

Mr Dutton declined to answer a question sent by the Age, Herald and Four Corners about whether the Liberal party fundraiser had contacted him about the citizenship conferral, but said in a statement that Mr Huang “has never made a donation to my campaign”.

“Mr Dastyari will need to answer questions around his request for a citizenship ceremony,” Mr Dutton said.

Then Immigration Minister Peter Dutton in 2015.Credit: Alex Ellinghausen

Pressed about the appropriateness of his own role assisting Mr Huang, Mr Dastyari said he’d resigned from the parliament over his dealings with Mr Huang. He said it was “ludicrous” to suggest Mr Dutton had expedited the ceremony as a favour for a Labor senator.

A private lunch with the minister and Mr Beijing

The following year, in 2016, Mr Huang’s own citizenship application was stalled by ASIO over concerns about his links to the Chinese Communist Party.

A big donor to politicians, universities and charities since his arrival in Australia in 2011, Mr Huang headed a Chinese Communist Party lobbying and influence organisation in Sydney, the ACPPRC.

Then Senator Santo Santoro announces his resignation as Minister for Ageing and as a member in 2007.Credit: AAP

Increasingly anxious about his stalled citizenship, Mr Huang turned to another political contact, Santo Santoro, a former minister in the Howard government, who had since turned lobbyist.

Mr Santoro’s business involves providing access to politicians. The Age, the Herald and Four Corners has obtained a confidential record of a meeting in which he boasted about his direct line to Peter Dutton.

Huang Xiangmo's son, Jimmy Huang, whose visa conferral was expedited, and who runs the family property development company.Credit: James Alcock

In the recording, Mr Santoro vouches for Mr Dutton’s integrity as “the most honest politician that I have ever come across” but said he also “tries to be helpful” if there was “a capability or a critical mass of investments that comes into Australia”.

The confidential recording reveals Mr Santoro has claimed his lobbying service extends to helping people attempting to expedite immigration applications, and that he can access Mr Dutton’s office for a fee of at least $20,000.

“There is nobody else anywhere who is better placed than me to help you through this particular part of the project. Nobody. ... I can go to somebody in the Minister’s [Dutton’s] office and say ‘can you have a close look at this.’”

“If I am going to be doing the work and going to Canberra with a copy of the visa application and hand it over to somebody and say, ‘Can you help?’, no, no, I want to get paid, and get paid up front.”

The Age, the Herald and Four Corners has confirmed that Mr Huang, in placing Mr Santoro on a retainer in 2016, hoped to help resolve his stalled citizenship request.

The March 2016 lunch arranged by Mr Santoro involved Mr Huang, Mr Dutton and the minister’s senior staffer in a private room at Master Ken’s upmarket seafood restaurant in Sydney’s Chinatown.

When asked about this, Mr Santoro confirmed the lunch had taken place, but denied its intent was to provide Mr Huang direct access to Mr Dutton. The vast majority of citizenship applicants do not get to meet the immigration minister.

Mr Santoro said his work for Mr Huang was limited to providing introductory services. He denied offering to help Mr Huang obtain citizenship. Asked why he was paid by Mr Huang for at least a year, Mr Santoro said: “That's between myself and Mr. Huang.”

“But generally speaking, it would have been just to, I suppose, assist him to understand Australian politics.”

Mr Dutton declined to answer specific questions about his dealings with Mr Santoro, but said he had been “introduced to Mr Huang as a leader in the Sydney Chinese community and had lunch with him on that basis".

“I have certainty never made representations on his behalf to the Department or anyone else,” Mr Dutton said.

Mr Huang declined to answer specific questions, although through a spokesman said his dealings with Mr Santoro was limited to “advice regarding business” including “development of the volcano area in Sicily, Italy”.

Mr Huang’s attempt to get a passport failed and last November, on advice from ASIO he posed a risk of foreign interference, he was banned from re-entering Australia.

Tip us off confidentially and securely using this link.