By Deborah Snow, Nic Christensen and John Garnaut
A LITTLE-KNOWN Australian-Chinese property billionaire has emerged as the largest offshore benefactor of Australia's political parties. Chau Chak Wing has poured more than $2 million into the coffers of the Liberal, National and Labor parties in the past decade.
In the two financial years that had the heaviest impact on the last federal election - 2006-07 and 2007-08 - he gave $980,000 to the Coalition and $402,000 to Labor.
Cr Chau with Kevin Rudd in March 2008.Credit: Australian News Express Daily
Yet despite the generous gifts to both sides he has stayed well below the radar in debates about Australia's burgeoning links with China, and is barely known outside the political and business elites in both countries.
He eclipses the Macau entrepreneur Stanley Ho as a donor because Labor returned most of Mr Ho's money after the 2007 election.
Dr Chau told the Herald he was just a "small businessman" who was fulfilling the role of a "good and responsible citizen". "When I make those donations, I do not put any conditions on the contribution."
The former prime minister John Howard told the Herald: "I had a very positive view of his contribution to the relationship [with China].
"He always struck me as a person interested in a genuine way in building relations between China and Australia. I never discussed donations with him … the access he had was not so frequent as to even justify that question."
Dr Chau is a Chinese-born Australian citizen but has channelled most of his donations through his overseas companies - the Kingold Group in China, the HK Kingson Investment in Hong Kong and another Hong Kong entity, Chun Yip Trading.
Federally, Labor has vowed to ban foreign donations, but legislation to achieve this has stalled in the Senate.
Dr Chau educated his children in Australia and operates from a base in the booming city of Guangzhou, capital of his native Guangdong province.
Political and business leaders say he has been instrumental in facilitating Australian trade and investment deals with China worth billions of dollars.
As well as the strong links Dr Chau forged with Mr Howard and senior Coalition ministers, he seems to have been adept at singling out future stars of the Labor Government.
In 2004 and 2005 he partially funded trips to China for the future prime minister, Kevin Rudd, the future treasurer, Wayne Swan, the future foreign affairs minister, Stephen Smith, and the future agriculture minister, Tony Burke.
He also paid for a trip to China in 2005 by Mark Arbib, then the NSW Labor secretary and recently appointed by Mr Rudd as Minister for Employment Participation.
In Sydney Dr Chau was well known to the former premier Bob Carr and his successor, Morris Iemma. Dr Chau's daughter, Winky, worked for both premiers as a community relations adviser. She joined Mr Carr's office in 2004, the same year her father opened a Chinese-language newspaper in Sydney, the Australian New Express Daily.
Ms Chau has since gone into business with Mr Iemma, offering consultancy services for companies seeking business in China.
Mr Carr told the Herald that she had "performed excellently". He said Dr Chau was "an asset to Australia". "The fact that you have someone with good connections in China … I think there would be something wrong with us if we didn't take up an opportunity like that."
In 2007 Mr Iemma appointed Dr Chau an honorary NSW ambassador to Guangzhou.