‘Chinese spies’ claim explodes in dying days of federal election campaign
Accusing the Liberal Party of questioning the loyalty of Chinese Australians, Senator Wong has taken to social media.
Foreign Minister Penny Wong has sought to weaponise Liberal frontbencher Jane Hume’s extraordinary and unsubstantiated claim that “Chinese spies” could be working on Labor pre-poll booths in new social media ads.
Capping off a challenging campaign for Senator Hume, who was also at the centre of the work-from-home backflip, the comments have infuriated Liberal colleagues.
Senator Hume previously claimed public servants who were “working for home” were in fact driving around in campervans while travelling Australia.
The Liberal Party later dumped the plan to force public servants back into the office amid fears staff thinking it applied to all workers.
Accusing the Liberal Party of questioning the loyalty of Chinese Australians, Senator Wong used new social media advertisements targeting Chinese voters on WeChat and RedNote.
The ads are being rolled out in key seats that could decide Saturday’s election.
“Yesterday, Liberal Senator Jane Hume accused Chinese Australians volunteering in the federal election of being Chinese spies,’’ Senator Wong said.
“We’ve seen this before from the Liberal Party.
“Why is it that the Liberal Party continues to question the loyalty of Chinese Australians, and we all remember how Peter Dutton weaponised the relationship with China.
“He didn’t care about the consequences for us, for our communities. And now, when he wants your vote, he says something different.
“But Chinese Australians know what Peter Dutton is like.”
Senator Wong then speaks in Chinese before translating her words to English.
“He won’t change,’’ she says.
“You’ve seen Labor’s approach to China working calmly and consistently. We’ve seen dialogue resume and $20 billion in trade barriers lifted.
“We aren’t reckless and aggro. Labor will always value Chinese Australian communities, not just when it’s convenient at election time.”
Chinese spies claims
The Coalition finance spokeswoman told Channel 7’s Sunrise on Wednesday that people associated with the Chinese Communist Party had organised campaigners for a teal and Labor MP, before the latter rejected the arrangement.
Her observation followed a newspaper article outlining the claims.
“There might be Chinese spies that are, you know, handing out for you,” Hume said to Clare O’Neil. She offered no evidence to support the claim.
“But for us, there’s dozens, thousands, hundreds of young people that are out there handing out how-to-vote cards for the Liberal Party because they want a better life.”
Sunrise host Nat Barr appeared shocked by the claim asking her, “Chinese spies?”.
The fight for Bennelong
The Liberal candidate for Bennelong, Scott Yung was accused of distancing himself from the party this week with a paid ad telling the Chinese-Australians that he does not “blindly follow” instructions, highlighting his previous criticism of Scott Morrison.
The AFR reported that the Chinese language ad carried the headline “He once publicly criticised his party leader” and highlighted Yung’s “independent thinking”.
Peter Dutton and China
During the 2022 election, the Liberals took a big hit among Chinese voters after taking an anti-China stance during the pandemic.
In the Liberal Party’s review of its election performance, undertaken by former party director Brian Loughnane and frontbencher Jane Hume, it was reported: “In the top 15 seats by Chinese ancestry the swing against the Party (on a 2PP basis) was 6.6 per cent, compared to 3.7 per cent in other seats.
“There are more than 1.2 million people of Chinese heritage living in Australia today. Rebuilding the party’s relationship with the Chinese community must be a priority during this term of parliament,’’ the report written by Senator Hume stated.
On Friday, Senator Hume also appeared on ABC Breakfast and when asked about whether Angus Taylor was a future leader made a comment about gutting a chicken.
“You do not read the entrails until you’ve gutted the chicken,’’ she said.
Australians head to the polls on Saturday to vote.
Originally published as ‘Chinese spies’ claim explodes in dying days of federal election campaign
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