Burke registering an interest in dim sum

Cartoon: Peter Nicholson

Pollie Tony Burke must have a taste for dim sum now that he has so many friends in China.

Burke, manager of opposition business, hasn’t said much about his trip in mid-July to the Middle Kingdom, which was his second jaunt there in 10 months with flights courtesy of monies from Labor senator-turned-Adelaide-based lobbyist Nick Bolkus.

Accommodation and transfers for Burke’s latest trip were paid for by a Chinese education company called 123 Childcare, which is chaired by former Nationals leader and deputy PM Mark Vaile.

123 Childcare is associated with businessman Ian Tang, who is no stranger to the ALP, having paid for Kevin Rudd to travel to China in 2006 to open a $1.3 billion retail development.

Tang is an associate of Chinese gambling magnate Stanley Ho, who has been accused of allowing organised crime to flourish within his casinos, prompting regulators around the world to rule him out of operating in their jurisdictions.

The NSW gaming regulator banned Ho from having any link to James Packer’s Crown Resorts. Packer went into the casino business in China’s Macau with Ho’s son Lawrence. Ho has been a major ALP donor (some dosh from family members was returned).

Tang has also funded many other trips for high-profile ALP pollies and over recent years also been a big donor to the party.

But that’s not where the connections end.

His 123 Childcare boasts a “partnership” with one of Australia and China’s richest men — Hui Wing Mau, who at last count was worth $6.9bn.

Chinese-born Australian citizen Hui last year paid almost $400 million for a Sydney CBD site via his Shimao Property Group, one of the largest property developers in China.

A spokesman for Burke said the China tour was “a private trip” that had “been appropriately declared on Mr Burke’s register of interests”.

“There are a series of childcare centres involving Australian investment in Shanghai and Beijing and Mr Burke visited established and developing sites in both cities.”

Walsh’s pilgrimage

While Canberra pollies do their best to deflect attention from their travel, Brighton Grammar alumnus Sam Walsh seems pleased to splash his latest European adventure as boss of Rio Tinto across cyberspace.

Walsh is on tour with his wife Leanne in sunny southern Spain, visiting the miner’s birthplace — copper mines in the town of Minas de Riotinto, in Huelva province. They were guests of the town and its foundation.

Sporting a dapper Panama hat, a relaxed-looking Walsh committed €20,000 ($30,000) of Rio’s money to fix the local cemetery, which is a world away from the miner’s results presentation tomorrow.

Packer’s party

Will lover James Packer make it to Hollywood in time to see pop squeeze Mariah Carey unveil her star on the walk of fame, after a busy few days in Oz?

Packer took to hipster Bondi on Monday night, hosting a welcome to Oz party at his Campbell Parade pad for the new boss of his private Consolidated Press empire, investment banker Rob Rankin.

Apparently Packer no longer lives in the beachside suburb, scene of his punch-up with embattled Nine boss David Gyngell, but retains the bricks and mortar for now, having just taken it back off the market.

There are conflicting reports as to whether Gynge turned up, but he’s said to have met with Packer early yesterday anyway.

All this followed dinner with Tony Abbott on Sunday and charity Adopt Change’s star-studded do on Saturday night, alongside Bronwyn Bishop in her last ever outing as Speaker.

Meanwhile, Gynge will surf in to present Nine’s full-year results on August 27. Let’s hope ASIC’s probe of his share trades and Seven’s lawsuit against lookalike cooking show The Hotplate are both over by then.

Sperling silver

Gene Sperling spent 11½ years working under Clinton and Obama as director of the National Economic Council.

So Sperling, at Kalgoorlie’s Diggers & Dealers fest, can pass judgment on the crop of US political dramas. “There’s no question The West Wing is the best and most realistic show,” he said. “They’re great entertainment, I just wouldn’t want people to think that House of Cards or Scandal were a realistic portrayal of the character of most of the people at the high levels of the US government. We may not be perfect but we’re not that bad.”

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