The senator, the donor, his country and their chat

ALP powerbroker Sam Dastyari ought to resign, not just from his position as opposition deputy whip but from the Senate. His repeated delinquency in his dealings with Chinese interests exposes deep doubts about his suitability for political life. In the midst of the controversy over dual citizenship and foreign allegiances it is astonishing that an apparently clever senator would have gone to some trouble and expense to renounce his Iranian citizenship but then been so recklessly indifferent about his sovereign obligations in dealings with another foreign power.

We know Senator Dastyari has had personal bills paid by Huang Xiangmo (a Chinese businessman with close links to the Beijing elite), legal bills paid by another Chinese company and that he urged Australian neutrality on the South China Sea issue — a position at odds with the nation’s foreign policy, which has the public and bipartisan support of the Labor Party. We now know that after these dealings were exposed and Senator Dastyari was forced to quit Labor’s frontbench in September last year, he met Mr Huang at his Sydney home, apparently to advise him they should end their relationship. Senator Dastyari reportedly advised his host they should leave their mobile phones inside and speak in the garden to avoid surveillance.

Bill Shorten reportedly had been warned of ASIO interest in Mr Huang but the Opposition Leader dismissed any suggestion that he might have passed this on to Senator Dastyari so that Mr Huang effectively was tipped off by Labor. It is appalling for Labor to have to address this scenario. It doesn’t make sense that Senator Dastyari could abuse the trust placed in him by Labor yet still keep a prized Senate seat.

This scandal arises as intelligence agencies and our Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade are warning about Chinese attempts to infiltrate and influence debate through universities and political institutions. Security agencies are deeply worried about cyberattacks from China against our public and private entities. There is an ongoing debate about banning foreign political donations and, as editor-at-large Paul Kelly outlined in our pages yesterday, strategic experts see growing efforts by Beijing to interfere in our internal and external affairs as an inevitable and ongoing challenge. The most benign assessment of Senator Dastyari’s behaviour is that it has been dangerously and repeatedly naive.

Malcolm Turnbull posed the most pertinent question yesterday. “Whose side is Sam on?” the Prime Minister asked. “Why is he giving counter-surveillance advice to Mr Huang? Why is he doing that? I mean, whose side is he on? Why is he trying to alert Mr Huang that perhaps Australian security agencies may have an interest in him?” Attorney-General George Brandis said Senator Dastyari’s position was “untenable”, while Foreign Minister Julie Bishop said he had tried to “thwart” an ASIO investigation.

Senator Dastyari has not contested the claim about avoiding surveillance. He denies passing on any classified information. To ensure this could never be the case, he should do Labor a favour and exit the parliament.