Taskforce to investigate polling recruits for Clare O’Neil and Monique Ryan

The election integrity watchdog is investigating claims the office of Housing Minister Clare O’Neil requested campaign volunteers linked to a Chinese-Australian association with historical ties to the Chinese Communist Party, claims the Labor frontbencher rejects.

The Hubei Association entered the spotlight after this masthead published a video showing two people campaigning for teal MP Monique Ryan, who said they were directed to vote for her by Ji Jianmin, president of the group.

Clare O’Neil and Anthony Albanese campaign in Melbourne. Credit: Alex Ellinghausen

The Australian reported on Wednesday that 10 people linked to the Hubei Association were recruited by a grassroots Labor member known to O’Neil to help campaign for the minister in her Melbourne seat of Hotham.

O’Neil firmly denied the claims on Wednesday, saying the volunteers were offered by the group but declined by her office.

“I can be really clear with you there ... my staff and my office did not make any request for assistance from this organisation. The organisation offered assistance to the office, and my team did exactly the right thing, which is politely decline that offer of support,” O’Neil said on Channel Seven’s Sunrise program.

The association led by Ji has previously been accused of working with China’s United Front global influence operation.

Coalition campaign spokesman James Patterson called for an official probe of the volunteers after this masthead reported the Kooyong video, saying “if confirmed, this would constitute an act of foreign interference in our democracy”.

The Australian Electoral Commission’s integrity taskforce, made up of federal police and intelligence agencies, is looking into both Kooyong and Hotham.

In a statement, the electoral commission gave a warning about directing voters to vote a certain way.

“Australians can have confidence that there are broad-ranging safeguards in place to protect the integrity of Australia’s federal elections, including through the [integrity taskforce]. It is important to note that Australia has a secret ballot. Nobody knows how another individual votes. Your vote is your choice,” the statement said.

“The AEC has also published advice to voters about influence in Australian elections, including a reminder that every voter is responsible for making their own decision about who they vote for at this federal election. Australia has one of the most trusted electoral systems in the world. It belongs to voters, and we all have a responsibility to protect it.”

Ryan said on Tuesday that she knew Ji and met him several times but did not seek his endorsement.

Opposition Leader Peter Dutton, who hopes to win Kooyong back for the Liberal Party, said on Wednesday that Ryan’s record on integrity was a “dog’s breakfast”.

Ji is the president of the Hubei Association, an organisation representing people from the Chinese province that has been accused of working with the United Front Work Department, a central party agency that advances CCP interests.

Another group he oversees, the Huaxing Arts Group, writes biannual reports to the United Front and includes its database of Australian political figures, according to research published in 2020 by the Australian Strategic Policy Institute.

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