From Sam Dastyari viaDomainfax:
Senator Sam Dastyari has stood down from the Labor frontbench amid a political storm over personal payments he received from Beijing-linked donors and comments he reportedly made supporting China’s position on the South China Sea.
He said while he disclosed the two payments on parliamentary registers, he was stepping down as the ongoing media scrutiny had become a distraction from Labor’s attack on the government over bigger policy issues.
“I’m not a shy person. I’ve never been afraid of the spotlight. But in the past week, it’s clear that the ongoing examination of my behaviour is taking attention away from bigger issues facing Australia and Australians. Yesterday, I called the press conference and answered questions. Today, I have reflected on that and decided that wasn’t enough. It’s clear to me now that this has become a distraction,” Senator Dastyari said.
Well done, Sam. Not exactly the right reason for it, you should have mentioned Australia, but the right outcome. That is leadership.
Now, what should follow is more of the same:
- a declaration by Bob Carr that his China-friendly institute has found alternative funding to its Chinese benefactor or has left UTS;
- Malcolm Turnbull announces a full blown investigation of political donations in the parliament, and
- foreign (and preferably all) political donations are banned forthwith.
