Senator loses leader’s trust

OPPOSITION Leader Bill Shorten says he no longer trusts the judgment of Sam Dastyari, after sacking the controversial senator from his parliamentary responsibilities amid more revelations of links to a Chinese donor.

But the NSW Labor Party powerbroker remains under pressure to quit parliament as a line-up of ministers yesterday demanded Labor sack him.

Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull said Senator Dastyari had shown “disloyal conduct of the highest order” and it was not good enough for him to only resign as Opposition deputy Whip in the Senate.

It emerged this week Sena- tor Dastyari had warned Chinese businessman Huang Xiangmo his phone could have been tapped by Australian and US authorities. There is no evidence of any surveillance.

Also, a recording of a press conference Senator Dastyari gave to Chinese media last year, at which Mr Huang was present, has emerged, showing that he contradicted ALP policy on the South China Sea.

“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 yesterday. Mr Shorten said he sacked Senator Dastyari as deputy Whip because he “mischaracterised” what he had said at the press conference last year.

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

Senator Dastyari was forced to provide the Senate with a full explanation of his meeting with Mr Huang, saying he was a prominent local Chinese community leader in Sydney.

He said he utterly rejected any assertion he had leaked intelligence to Mr Huang.