Kevin Rudd may have to register as ‘an agent of foreign influence’

Kevin Rudd is likely to be urged by federal officials to register as an agent of foreign influence because of his vast overseas connections.

Former prime minister Kevin Rudd. Picture: Patrick Woods

Kevin Rudd is likely to be urged by federal officials to register as an agent of foreign influence because of his vast overseas connections and ongoing involvement in international relations.

The former prime minister has asked the Attorney-General’s Department whether he needs to join the foreign influence transparency scheme’s public register because he leads a host of inter­national bodies and forums, most of them based in the US and one backed by a Chinese company.

A spokesman for Mr Rudd told The Australian he did not believe he currently had to register because he did not work directly for a foreign government, but Mr Rudd was willing to sign up if he was ­advised to do so by Canberra.

Mr Rudd would not be the first former prime minister to join the scheme, with Tony Abbott also signing the public register because of his work advising British Prime Minister Boris Johnson on post-Brexit trade policy.

Attorney-General’s Department deputy secretary Sarah Chidgey told a Senate committee last month it was “likely” he had an obligation to sign up to the scheme. She said the Department was yet to send a letter to Mr Rudd offering this advice.

“I think we had indicated, based on the information we’ve been provided by Mr Rudd and through his legal representative, that we thought it likely he would have registration obligations,” she said at the Senate hearing.

“We’ve continued our engagement. I think we still have a letter outstanding from Mr Rudd to respond to, but we haven’t taken further action.”

Since he lost the 2013 federal election, Mr Rudd has spent most of his time in New York. He chairs several different international groups, including the US-based Asia Society Policy Institute, global water advocacy group Sanitation and Water for All, and the International Peace Institute.

Mr Rudd is also the chairman of the North American chapter of the Global Sharing Economy Forum, which is funded by Chinese company ToJoy Shared Holding Group and has several former world leaders on its board including ex-Indonesian president Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono.

The former Labor leader told The Australian on Wednesday he had approached the department himself several times to discuss registration.

“Under the Foreign Influence Transparency Act, former cabinet ministers are required to register any activity undertaken on behalf of a foreign government organisation or entity. Mr Rudd does not work for any such institution,” his spokesman said, “although he regularly engages in international media interviews … as well as ongoing conversations with foreign governments around the world consistent with his responsibilities as head of an American think tank.”

The spokesman also said the former prime minister had gone to the Attorney-General’s Department in September 2019 to list his international engagements.

Former prime minister Kevin Rudd. Picture: Patrick Woods

“Mr Rudd’s legal representatives also visited the secretary of the Attorney-General’s Department in December 2019 to seek clarification as to which of these interests, if any, would be registrable,” he said.

“Mr Rudd’s lawyers have reminded the Attorney-General’s Department on multiple occasions that they were awaiting a reply — most recently by correspondence in June 2020. They have not yet received a reply, nor has Mr Rudd received any “section 45” notice.

“Mr Rudd has been a vocal public supporter of the Foreign Influence Transparency Scheme, and has made this plain to the Attorney-General’s Department. He is fully prepared to register any international interests he has based on their advice, which he is yet to receive.”

The Attorney-General’s Department on Wednesday said its discussions with Mr Rudd were ongoing.

“The department has not issued a section 45 notice to Mr Rudd. As at 18 November, 2020, Mr Rudd has not registered under the Foreign Influence Transparency Scheme.”

Other ex-politicians on the foreign influence transparency scheme’s public register include former Liberal Party leaders Brendan Nelson and Alexander Downer, and former communications minister Richard Alston.