Sam Dastyari shouldn’t get another cent, says Bishop

Julie Bishop says Sam Dastyari should formalise his resignation from the Senate immediately.

Julie Bishop campaigning in Bennelong ahead of Saturday’s by-election. Picture: John Feder

Labor has moved to cauterise the damage done by Sam Dastyari’s ties with Chinese Communist Party-linked billionaire Huang ­Xiangmo ahead of the weekend by-election in Bennelong, with the NSW senator announcing his ­departure from politics.

The resignation of Senator Dastyari, who held the No 1 position on the NSW Labor Senate ticket, will not take effect until his letter is ­received by the new president of the Senate, Scott Ryan.

The move will give Labor cleaner air in its bid to win the Sydney seat of Bennelong on Saturday, an outcome that would deny the government a majority on the floor of the lower house, and allow the opposition greater scope to prosecute its claim that the government has descended into “China-phobic” rhetoric with measures to curb foreign interference in Australian politics.

While he flagged his intention not to return to federal parliament in 2018, Senator Dastyari gave no indication of when he would formally hand in his resignation, with Julie Bishop seeking to maximise the damage by demanding an instant departure.

Campaigning in the seat of Bennelong with Liberal candidate John Alexander, the Foreign Minister argued Labor was paving the way for former NSW Labor premier Kristina Keneally to fill the upper house vacancy.

She also turned the heat on Bill Shorten for not acting sooner to sack Senator Dastyari, who is alleged to have given counter-surveillance advice to ALP donor Mr Huang in 2016 after previously contradicting Labor policy on the South China Sea.

“Sam Dastyari should resign ­effective immediately. He shouldn’t receive another cent in salary from the Australian people,” Ms Bishop said. “This is all stage-managed by Labor as a backstop for Kristina Keneally should she not succeed here.”

Senator Dastyari’s Chinese fundraising ally, NSW upper house MP Ernest Wong, said he “respected” the decision of Senator Dastyari to retire from parliament. Asked about The Australian’s report on Saturday that ASIO had identified about 10 ­political candidates at state and local government elections whom it believes have close ties to Chinese intelligence services and who are seeking to wield influence in Australian politics, Mr Wong denied any such ties and said “I am not aware of anybody on the list.”

Ms Keneally, the Labor candidate in Bennelong, refused to rule out a Senate tilt if she fell short in Saturday’s by-election, but noted she had previously turned down offers from the NSW branch to consider a Senate seat.

The base salary for MPs set by the independent Remuneration Tribunal is $203,030 a year, with Senator Dastyari entitled to $3900 a week until he hands in his resignation letter to Senator Ryan.

With parliament not due to return until February 5, it is unclear how long Senator Dastyari will continue to draw a salary, with the ­vacancy to be filled by Labor and approved by a joint sitting of the NSW parliament.

“I have decided the best service I can render to the federal parliamentary Labor Party is to not return to the Senate in 2018,” Senator Dastyari said. “I will spare the party any further distraction.” Mr Shorten said Senator Dastyari had “done the right thing” and defended him as a “good, decent and loyal Australian” with poor judgment.