Dastyari called to quit Senate
Sam Dastyari is facing calls to resign from the Senate after being sacked from Labor’s frontbench for parroting a Chinese donor’s lines on aggressive land grabs in the South China Sea. Senator Dastyari has quit his position as Opposition deputy whip but is remaining in the Senate.
SAM Dastyari is facing calls to resign from the Senate after being sacked from Labor’s frontbench for parroting a Chinese donor’s lines on aggressive land grabs in the South China Sea.
Senator Dastyari has quit his positions as Opposition deputy whip in the Senate and chairman of a parliamentary committee, but is remaining in the Senate.
His move comes after audio emerged of the NSW senator backing China’s moves in the South China Sea, in defiance of government and Labor policy, despite saying last year he had “mumbled” his answer and “answered it incorrectly”.
It was also revealed Senator Dastyari warned political donor Huang Xiangmo – a businessman with links to the Chinese Communist Party – that his phone may be tapped by government agencies at a meeting in October last year at Mr Huang’s Sydney home.
The meeting occurred just weeks after Senator Dastyari resigned from the Labor shadow ministry after it was revealed he received a payment of $1670.82 from another Australian Chinese businessman, Minshen Zhu.
In a statement to parliament, Senator Dastyari said he had not passed on classified information but was resigning due to his mischaracterisation of the comments he made about the South China Sea at a press conference for Chinese language media.
“I let myself down and my party down by contradicting party policy and I paid the appropriate penalty,” he said.
Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull said Senator Dastyari also needed to step down from the Senate.
“This is a senator who has made it abundantly clear that his first allegiance is not to Australia,” Mr Turnbull said.
“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.
“Sam Dastyari should get out of the Senate, full stop. That’s his duty.”
Opposition Leader Bill Shorten, who told Senator Dastyari to resign from his Senate leadership position on Wednesday night, said the senator had a “long journey to restoring my confidence in him”.
Independent senator Derryn Hinch said Senator Dastyari’s initial “two-minute noodle address” was insufficient.