Sam Dastyari makes statement to Senate

Hauled before Senate to explain himself, he says the tape’s contents don’t match his recollection, but he takes responsibility.

Labor senator Sam Dastyari has repeated his claim that an audio recording of his press conference with members of the Chinese community “shocked” him, as it did not match his “recollection of events”, after being hauled before the Senate to explain himself this afternoon.

A partial tape of the July 17, 2016, press conference emerged yesterday, in which Senator Dastyari pledges to respect China’s position on the South China Sea while standing next to Chinese Communist Party-linked businessman Huang Xiangmo, who had previously paid one of his legal bills.

“The Chinese integrity of its borders is a matter for China and the role that Australia should be playing as a friend is to know that we think several thousand years of history, thousands of years of history when it is and isn’t our place to be involved,” Senator Dastyri said at the press conference.

“As a supporter of China and a friend of China the Australian Labor Party is playing an important role in maintaining that relationship in the best way of maintaining that relationship is knowing when it is and isn’t our place to be involved.”

The previous day Labor’s then defence spokesman, Stephen Conroy, had said a federal Labor government would authorise the defence force to conduct a freedom of navigation exercise in the South China Sea.

Senator Dastyari this afternoon defended his acquaintance with Mr Huang, saying he was a prominent local Chinese community leader in Sydney.

“As the Senate will appreciate there are over one million Chinese Australians. It is not uncommon for there to be large community functions regularly at which Chinese community leaders are present,” Senator Dastyari said.

“As the general secretary of the Australian Labor Party NSW branch, I would regularly be in contact with representatives of every community in NSW.

“These included ethnic, corporate and community organisations. Mr Huang Xiangmo was also a regular attendee at Labor Party functions. I note that he also attended many Liberal Party functions too.”

Fairfax Media yesterday reported that Senator Dastyari had met with Mr Huang and allegedly warned him he may be phone-tapped by Australian and US authorities.

“As I told Four Corners months ago, after the events of last year, I spoke to Mr Huang to tell him that I did not think it was appropriate that we have future contact,” Senator Dastyari said.

“I thought it was a matter of common courtesy to say this face-to-face. Neither my office or I have spoken to Mr Huang since.”

Senator Dastyari said he utterly rejected any assertion that he had leaked intelligence information to Mr Huang.

“Let me reiterate that I have never been provided with intelligence information by any Australian security agency ever,” he said. “I have never passed on intelligence information. I have never been in the possession of any.”

Senator Dastyari said the July 2016 press conference was targeted at the “Australian-Chinese media and the Chinese-Australian community”.

“Mr Huang was included in the press conference as the presence of a prominent Chinese community leader would help attract better media coverage from Chinese language media and their target audience,” he said.

“This is standard media practice for Australian political parties from across the spectrum when seeking to engage with multicultural communities.

“I do not have the full details of what was said at the press conference, however, I understand footage has been disseminated to media outlets.

“At the press conference I made comments that were in breach of Labor Party policy on issues relating to the South China Sea.

“While I do not have a copy of the transcript of the press conference, I understand a copy of those comments has been disseminated to media outlets. I have never denied that contradicting Labor policy was a significant mistake and I resigned from the Labor Party front bench over it last year.”

Senator Dastyari said he had “paid the appropriate penalty” for contradicting party policy by standing down from the front bench last year.

“More recently, my characterisation of the press conference was called into question,” he said.

“A recent audio recording shocked me as it did not match my recollection of events. I personally take responsibility for the subsequent mischaracterisation.

“When a public official makes a statement that contradicts events, there are consequences.

“For me the consequence was being called last night by my leader Bill Shorten and being asked to resign from my position in the Labor Senate organisational leadership group.

“I accept the decision of my leader and accordingly today I resigned my leadership position.”

Shorten: traitor claim is ‘rubbish’

Bill Shorten said today Senator Dastyari has a “long journey to restore my confidence” but labelled claims the NSW Labor senator was a traitor as “rubbish”.

The Opposition Leader said he was “frustrated” with Senator Dastyari’s “poor judgement” but he was confident the senator had not broken any laws or was a risk to national security.

Mr Shorten said he sacked Senator Dastyari from opposition deputy Senate whip because he “mischaracterised” his position in a press conference from last year while standing with Mr Huang.

“I think Senator Dastyari, as best I can tell and I believe this, has not broken any laws but he has poor judgement and I think everybody recognises that. So I have taken steps to strip him of positions he was otherwise holding,” Mr Shorten said.

“At an individual level, as a human being, I feel for him. But as leader of the Labor Party I resent I am frustrated that he put us in a position where I had to ask to sack him.

“I think he has a long journey to take before he can rebuild, and that is why he is on the backbench.”

Mr Shorten said he would not move to kick Senator Dastyari out of the Labor Party because he had not broken any laws.

He said it “wasn’t impossible” for Senator Dastyari to make his way back on the frontbench, adding: “Tony Abbott could turn up as leader”.

“I think having sacked him once, and now again, having removed him and stripped him of positions, he knows that his colleagues are deeply frustrated with him, and he has a long journey to rebuild trust,” he said.

Mr Shorten said Senator Dastyari told him the contents of his conversation with Mr Huang but he would not divulge any details. He rejected the goverrnment’s claims the senator was not loyal to Australia.

“I don’t agree with the Liberal Party’s attack on him, calling him a traitor, that is rubbish,” he said.

Dastyari statement to Senate

Senator Dastyari was hauled before the Senate at 3pm to provide a full explanation of his meeting with Communist Party of China-linked donor Huang Xiangmo.

The Senate passed a motion that forced him to make a statement of up 20 minutes to explain:

- the nature of his relationship with Mr Huang Xiangmo

- the allegations made by Fairfax Media on 29 November 2017 that Senator Dastyari gave Mr Huang counter-surveillance advice and conducted a covert conversation with him during a meeting at Mr Huang’s home in October 2016, including full details of the covert conversation

- the press conference held by Senator Dastyari on 17 June 2016, and in particular:

(i) the nature of Mr Huang’s involvement in the decision to hold the press conference;

(ii) full details of what was said by him at the press conference;

(iii) the reason why he used the press conference to specifically contradict official Labor Party policy on Chinese territorial claims in the South China Sea;

(iv) the reason the press conference was restricted to Chinese language media; and

(v) why he subsequently gave untruthful accounts of what he had said at the press conference

- the nature and value of all payments made to or on behalf of Senator Dastyari by Mr Huang or at his direction.

Attorney-General George Brandis moved the motion, saying Senator Dastyari’s earlier statement to the chamber was inadequate. The crossbench sided with the government and voted for the proposal 41-19.

Another motion, which would have allowed other senators up to 90 minutes to respond to Senator Dastyari’s explanation, marginally failed.

Not good enough: Brandis

Senator Brandis told the Senate that while numerous senators caught in the dual citizenship fiasco had been found to hold a foreign allegiance “in the most technical way”, Senator Dastyari had sat in the chamber “actually under a foreign influence”.

“This time it is not enough. How absurd to reflect that in this Senate over recent months we have seen one senator after another forced to resign from the Senate because of section 44 of the Constitution in circumstances which have reflected no discredit on any single one of them because for a technical reason unbeknown to them they were deemed to owe allegiance to or acknowledgment to a foreign sovereign,” Senator Brandis said.

“And meanwhile sitting in the Senate in a senior position in the Labor Party, there sat Senator Dastyari who evidently by his conduct was actually under a foreign influence. But he kept quiet, he stayed mum, he maintained his position until his position was exposed by the media in the last 24 hours or so and now he has been forced to resign again.

“This is not good enough.”

Senator Brandis said it was a “matter of the greatest seriousness” because Senator Dastyari had now compromised himself and his office three times.

“It is not good enough for Mr Shorten to think that he can overcome this latest embarrassment merely by once again temporarily benching Senator Sam Dastyari. It is not good enough because Senator Sam Dastyari has not only compromised himself, he has compromised his office and he can no longer remain,” he said.

Dastyari quits roles

In a short statement to the chamber this morning, Senator Dastyari vowed to continue working for the people of NSW but said he did not “want to be a distraction” for Labor as he repeated claims he had “never passed on classified information and I’ve never been in the possession of any”.

“I’m not without fault. In June last year, I held a press conference where I made comments that were in breach of Labor Party policy. I have never denied this. The price I paid for that was high but appropriate,” Senator Dastyari said.

“More recently, my characterisation of that press conference was called into question. A recent audio recording shocked me as it did not match my recollection of events. I take responsibility for the subsequent mischaracterisation.

“When a public official makes a statement that contradicts events there are consequences. For me, the consequences were being called last night by Bill Shorten and being asked to resign from my position in the Labor Senate organisational leadership.”

.@samdastyari: When a public official makes a statement that contradicts events there are consequences. MORE: https://t.co/BLat7oDVHS pic.twitter.com/Wz1oxR02Oc

— Sky News Australia (@SkyNewsAust) November 29, 2017

Shorten: position untenable

“Last night I spoke to Senator Sam Dastyari and told him to resign from his senior Labor positions in the Senate,” Mr Shorten said in a statement this morning. “I told Senator Dastyari that his mischaracterisation of how he came to make comments contradicting Labor policy made his position untenable.

“I also told him that while I accept his word that he never had, nor disclosed, any classified information, his handling of these matters showed a lack of judgment.

“I know that Senator Dastyari will learn from this experience. I have asked him to inform the Senate at the first available opportunity.”

Bill Shorten has told Sam Dastyari to resign from his role as opposition deputy whip #auspol pic.twitter.com/Ejla8fV6fN

— Greg Brown (@gregbrown_TheOz) November 29, 2017

Labor had been resisting ­government ­demands to dump Senator ­Dastyari, following accusations he gave “counter-surveillance ­advice” to a donor linked to the Chinese government.

Labor’s Senate leader Penny Wong said Senator Dastyari had done the “wrong thing” and rightly paid a price. She reminder the chamber Senator Dastyari was not made a frontbencher when he was appointed to the senior organisational role of deputy whip following last year’s demotion.

“It was appropriate that he resign from the frontbench on the previous occasion, and it is appropriate, given what has been disclosed, that he resign as deputy whip and from other parliamentary positions in light of what has been disclosed,” Senator Dastyari said.

“He has done the wrong thing and he has fronted up and he has done what has been asked of him by the Leader of the Opposition, which is to resign from his position.”

PM: disloyal conduct of the highest order

Malcolm Turnbull this morning demanded Senator Dastyari resign from parliament or that Bill Shorten dump him from the Labor Party and let him “languish in contempt on the crossbench”.

The Prime Minister said Senator Dastyari had shown “disloyal conduct of the highest order” and it was not good enough for him to only resign from his role as opposition deputy whip in the Senate.

“Dastyari has shown he does not put Australia first and he does not owe his first loyalty to Australia. Sam Dastyari has shown that he is not on Australia’s side and it’s time he got out of Australia’s parliament,” Mr Turnbull said.

“This is a senator who has made it abundantly clear that his first allegiance is not to Australia. He has been taking money to pay his personal debts.

“Now we learn, and he has not denied it, that he has been providing counter-surveillance advice to that foreign national in order, presumably, so that what he assumed were the operations of Australia’s security agencies could be frustrated.”

Mr Turnbull said it was bad enough Senator Dastyari had expressed a different view from ALP policy on the South China Sea while he was at a press conference with a Chinese donor Huang Xiangmo.

“That was very bad, he should have gone then,” Mr Turnbull said.

“But now he goes to a meeting with this individual and he tells him to put his phone inside — and he puts his own phone inside so that there is no risk of them being overheard by Australian security agencies.

“That is disloyal conduct of the highest order. Dastyari should leave the Senate. If he refuses to resign, Shorten should dump him from the Labor Party and let him languish in contempt on the crossbench.”

Tape trips Dastyari

Last night, the political row around Senator Dastyari deepened with the leaking of a partial recording of his press conference of June 17 last year in which he contradicted Labor policy on the South China Sea and backed the Chinese position.

The press conference, delivered while standing next to Mr Huang, who has donated nearly $1 million to both sides of politics, contributed to his resignation from the frontbench last ­September.

“The Chinese integrity of its borders is a matter for China ... the best way of maintaining that relationship (with China) is knowing when it is and isn’t our place to be involved,” he said at the time.

The tape shows Senator Dastyari’s answer — which contradicted Labor’s then policy — was not “garbled”, as he has claimed, but deliberate and detailed.

The comments were made the day after Labor’s then defence spokesman, Stephen Conroy, had attacked Beijing’s territorial claims in the South China Sea.

The attack prompted Mr Huang to tell the ALP he was withdrawing a $400,000 donation ahead of the 2016 federal election.

Senator Dastyari’s surveillance warning to Mr Huang and the emergence of the recording reignited the row over his links to senior figures close to the Chinese government.

Mr Shorten and his deputy, Tanya Plibersek, yesterday put Senator Dastyari — made deputy Senate whip in February — on notice that further lapses of judgment would have consequences.

Leader of the Opposition Bill Shorten and Senator Sam Dastyari.

It is believed Mr Shorten called ASIO’s top officials this week to check whether Senator Dastyari was a national security concern.

Senior Labor figures are furious about Senator Dastyari’s alleged behaviour. One senior Labor source said his future should be seriously in doubt after the revelations. “If he is still in parliament at the end of the next parliamentary sitting week, then our country has a problem,” the source said.

Mr Shorten said yesterday: “I have made it clear to Senator Dastyari that this is not the first time his judgment has been called into question but I certainly expect it to be the last,” he said.

Ms Plibersek, a member of the NSW Left, said: “This is a second breach of judgment and there better not be a third one,” she said.

Asked about the issue yesterday, Mr Huang did not deny he was warned by Senator Dastyari that his phone might be tapped. However, he ­accused the media of telling fairytales. “Mr Huang is not interested in the fairytales being told by some sections of the media,” a spokesman for the Chinese ­businessman said.

“As he made clear, he is focusing on economic issues, including the growth of his business.”

Other Labor figures hit out at the report in Fairfax Media, suggesting it was a government leak. Labor frontbencher Anthony Albanese labelled the report a “beat-up” and accused the government of using intelligence agencies to make a political point.

Senator Dastyari denied any wrongdoing without directly denying the events occurred. “After the events of last year, I spoke to Mr Huang to tell him I did not think it appropriate we have future contact,” he said. “I thought it was a matter of common courtesy to say this face-to-face.” Senator Dastyari, who accused the government of trying to smear him, said he had never been briefed by any security agency, nor received classified information. “I reject any assertion I did anything other than put to Mr Huang gossip being spread by journalists,” he said, adding that claims he was not a loyal Australian were “incredibly hurtful’’.

Mr Huang recently stepped down as head of the Australian Council for the Promotion of the Peaceful Reunification of China.