Liberals offered private briefings on China’s economic strategy

A Liberal Party-aligned fundraising machine organised a private briefing by Chinese officials for federal and state MPs.

Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull.

A Liberal Party-aligned fundraising machine will host a private business briefing by Chinese government officials for federal and state government MPs and its corporate members on China’s Belt and Road economic and strategic policy, just a week after Malcolm Turnbull warned of the spread of foreign political influence in Australia.

The Australian has learned that The 500 Club, a West Australian corporate fundraising vehicle aligned with the Liberal Party, has sent invitations to state Liberal and Nationals MPs, including several federal ministers, for a private briefing by Chinese government and business “delegates” at the Hyatt Hotel in Perth tomorrow.

No federal WA Liberal or Nationals MP contacted by The Australian said they would be attending.

A senior Liberal Party source said it was the first time that they were aware that a foreign government had addressed a party fundraiser. The event promotes a briefing by visiting “Chinese government officials and business delegates” on China’s strategic and economic ambitions under the One Belt One Road policy.

It has an interpreter and “delegate” to be seated at every table.

With Mr Turnbull last week introducing new laws to curb foreign interference and influence, several federal Liberal MPs said the briefing was “bad timing”.

“It is concerning and clear evidence that it’s not just parts of the Labor Party, such as the NSW right, that are being targeted,” one senior Liberal Party source said. “Given the confirmation by the Prime Minister last week of what is going on, there is clearly a need for greater vigilance on behalf of political parties.

“As far as I’m aware, this is probably the first occasion a foreign government has sought to address a fundraising event.”

One federal Liberal MP confirmed to The Australian they had been invited but said they had declined. “I don’t think it would have been appropriate in the current climate,” the MP said.

Foreign Minister Julie Bishop’s office confirmed she would be interstate and would not be ­attending.

Another federal MP told The Australian that while they had declined the invitation, they didn’t see a problem with the event, claiming The 500 Club was a private corporate fundraising entity and not a Liberal Party entity.

They said there was no secret about the briefing and nothing inappropriate about being briefed on a foreign government’s policy.

Last week, the Chinese embassy in Canberra issued a strongly worded statement that the foreign interference laws and the associated anti-Chinese rhetoric were damaging the “mutual trust” between the two countries.

“Some Australian media have repeatedly fabricated news ­stories about the so-called Chinese influence and infiltration in Australia,” an embassy statement said. “Those reports, made up out of thin air and filled with Cold War mentality and ideological bias, reflected a typical anti-China hysteria and paranoia.”

While The 500 Club claims to be independent, on its website it boasts of having “supported conservative politics at both state and federal levels”.