Fed Labor are up to their ears in this.Bill Shorten at Chinese fundraiser behind NSW ICAC’s raidBRAD NORINGTON 11:00PM DECEMBER 18, 2018
The Chinese Friends of Labor fundraiser on March 12, 2015, attended by Bill Shorten, centre. To the left of the Labor leader are then NSW opposition leader Luke Foley, federal Treasury spokesman Chris Bowen and Chinese property developer Huang Xiangmo; to Mr Shorten’s right are state Labor MPs Adam Searle and Ernest Wong. Also present are Labor MPs Chris Minns and Shaquette Moselmane, back row, third and second from right, and Sophie Cotsis in the middle row wearing a red dress.
Bill Shorten was present with other senior party leaders at a Chinese Friends of Labor fundraising dinner in Sydney that is believed to be the focus of a raid on the NSW ALP’s headquarters by the Independent Commission Against Corruption.Officials from the NSW corruption body swooped on the ALP Sussex Street offices early yesterday in search of financial records related to an investigation into allegedly undisclosed or illegal party donations in 2015.
The raid took place while Labor officials were out of Sydney, attending the party’s national conference in Adelaide. Its timing, three months before the NSW election, also caused internal consternation about possible damage as the state party seeks to make itself electable after two terms in opposition.
The ALP’s head office said yesterday the investigation triggering the raid was linked to “historical” political donations received in 2015, but claimed the NSW Electoral Commission had already fully investigated the matter with the full co-operation of NSW Labor.
The organiser of the Chinese Friends of Labor dinner, attended by 650 people, was NSW Labor MP Ernest Wong. Another prominent attendee was Chinese property developer Huang Xiangmo, a NSW Labor donor who later came to public attention over his financial and personal links to disgraced former Labor senator Sam Dastyari.
A group photo from the fundraising dinner, held shortly before the NSW election in March 2015, shows Mr Shorten standing close to Mr Wong and Mr Huang, along with federal colleague Chris Bowen, then state party leader Luke Foley and state front bencher Adam Searle.
Among others in the photo are state MPs Chris Minns, Shaquette Moselman and Sophie Cotsis and party candidates Edwina Lloyd and Simon Zhou.
The Australian last night sought comment from Mr Shorten about his dinner attendance, and whether he was aware of details of the ICAC investigation into the 2015 party donations that prompted the raid. His office did not respond.
Donations to all state parties in NSW from property developers were banned at the time of the 2015 dinner following a clampdown by former Labor premier Nathan Rees six years earlier. Mr Rees also moved to cap individual donations in NSW to $2000.
Disclosure details for the NSW ALP issued by the NSW Electoral Commission show the dinner held on March 12, 2015, was listed as “Chinese community dinner to raise fund (sic) for state election — 12/03/2015”. Officially it raised $88,930 on the night.
Seven months after the NSW election, in October 2015, Mr Huang paid $55,000 to have lunch with Mr Shorten. This sum was later disclosed to the Australian Electoral Commission as a political donation to the federal ALP. In March 2016, Mr Shorten visited Mr Huang at his Sydney mansion, reportedly to seek funds for Labor campaign ads for the coming federal election.
After allegations were aired about Mr Huang’s possible links to Chinese government officials, and ASIO briefings to major parties about alleged Chinese government interference in Australian politics, Mr Shorten requested in mid-2017 that the ALP not accept any further funds from Mr Huang and some other donors.
Mr Wong, who was given a seat by the NSW party two years before the 2015 dinner after his big fundraising efforts for the NSW ALP, was a close associate of Mr Huang at the time.
Labor has since dumped him from a winnable spot on its upper house ticket for the NSW election next March, a move some insiders believe reflected party discomfort about his continued place as an MP in the midst of controversy over foreign donations and possible connections to the Chinese Communist Party government in Beijing.
Before entering parliament, Mr Wong was a Burwood councillor in Sydney’s inner west. He was given the seat of retiring MP and former Labor treasurer Eric Roozendaal. Mr Roozendaal then went on to work for Mr Huang’s property development company, Yuhu Group. One senior party figure familiar with annual Chinese Friends of Labor gatherings said they were arranged by Mr Wong to secure large donations, and billed as an opportunity for the Chinese community to meet Labor leaders.
Mr Foley, recently forced to resign as NSW Labor opposition leader, did not return The Australian’s call. Mr Wong, believed to be in Hong Kong, was not available for comment.
The boss of the ALP at the time of the 2015 dinner, Jamie Clements, also did not return calls.
The ICAC declined to provide information about the raid. A spokeswoman said the corruption investigator did not comment on operational matters.
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