Rex Patrick opens fire on Xenophon’s Huawei connections
Rex Patrick has turned on his former boss Nick Xenophon, saying the former senator’s work for Chinese telco Huawei was like spruiking German military manufacturers in 1938.
Independent senator Rex Patrick has turned on his former boss Nick Xenophon, saying the former senator’s work for Chinese telco Huawei was like spruiking German U-boat and fighter plane manufacturers in 1938.
As Mr Xenophon prepares to go head to head against his former adviser in the contest to win a South Australian Senate seat, Senator Patrick demanded Mr Xenophon be “completely transparent” about his work as Huawei’s “strategic counsel”.
“This is a corporation closely aligned with the Chinese state and the Chinese Communist Party, and which has been implicated in Chinese state espionage,” he told the Senate on Tuesday night.
“Huawei has also aided the internal surveillance activities of Chinese state security, especially the oppression of the Uighur people in Xinjiang.
“This was all a misjudgment on Mr Xenophon’s part. He was entitled … to work for whoever he wished but the choice he made was akin to someone choosing to do PR work for the German companies Krupp or Messerschmitt in 1938. There can’t be any compromise when it comes to Australian national security, nor can there be compromises on human rights.”
Mr Xenophon branded Senator Patrick’s comments as “a miserable attempt to dredge up some votes”.
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