Surely it’s time for a permanent ICAC and a permanent look at foreign political donations. From The ABC:
A corruption watchdog is asking questions about a Chinese billionaire property developer, a state Labor politician, a former head of the NSW arm of the party and $100,000 in mainly cash donations made at a 2015 Labor Party dinner, an ABC investigation can reveal…
It was formally organised by Chinese Friends of Labor — an ALP body designed to win votes and solicit donations from NSW’s electorally-important Chinese-Australian community…
The ABC can reveal the investigators are focusing on 20 donations linked to a Chinese Friends of Labor dinner totalling $100,000 that were lodged on April 9, 2015, by a dozen people and businesses.
Crucially, ICAC is examining whether the $100,000 was in fact given by so-called “straw donors” — front people who agree to put their names to donations from other people to political parties. That is a crime under NSW electoral law…
The donations were all in $5,000 amounts and most if not all were made in cash on the night of the dinner…
The ABC has confirmed via a number of sources that three of the people ICAC is asking questions about are: Chinese billionaire property developer and one of Australia’s biggest political donors, Huang Xiangmo; NSW Upper House member Ernest Wong; and former NSW ALP general secretary Jamie Clements…
In 2017, Fairfax Media and the ABC’s Four Corners detailed concerns held by the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation about Chinese Communist Party-aligned donors exerting political influence, sparking debate about the need for donations reform.
History never repeats, but is sure does rhyme.
