A Chinese-Australian billionaire businessman has been named under parliamentary privilege as the alleged ‘puppeteer’ behind a plot to interfere in our elections.
Labor Senator Kimberley Kitching claimed on Monday night that influential property developer Chau Chak Wing is the man who Australia’s spy ring says is behind a scheme to covertly fund and manipulate candidates for elections.
Mr. Chau has already been mentioned in parliament as an agent of the Chinese Communist Party.
Mr Chau has donated more than $4 million to political parties in Australia since 2004 and has donated another $45 million to Australian universities – including the University of Sydney, which named a museum in his honour, and the University of Technology Sydney (UTS), after which its business school is named.
The business school is housed in a building designed by Frank Gehry after the leading businessman donated $20 million.
During his annual threat assessment speech last week, ASIO chief executive Mike Burgess revealed a plot by a foreign power to covertly fund political candidates to get them elected.
Influential property developer Chau Chak Wing (pictured) has been named as the man alleged to be behind a plot to secretly fund election candidates, according to the Australian spy ring
Mr Burgess declined to name the foreign government or identify the individuals or elections involved.
But when questioned last night at a hearing on Senate estimates, Senator Kitching used parliamentary privilege to claim that Mr Chau was behind the plot.
“I am reliably informed that the puppeteer mentioned in your case study in your annual threat assessment speech delivered last week is Chau Chak Wing,” she said.
I believe it’s Chau Chak Wing. Are you able to confirm that it is Chau Chak Wing?
The spy chief declined to confirm the claim.
“I will not comment on speculation about who is and who is not targets, in general or in particular, as you ask me there,” he said.
Labor Senator Kimberley Kitching used parliamentary privilege to name Chau Chak Wing as the man allegedly behind a plot to interfere with Australia’s election
Mr Chau, of Chinese descent, was previously appointed to parliament as an agent of the Chinese Communist Party when MP Andrew Hastie linked him to a UN corruption scandal.
Mr Hastie also used parliamentary privilege to claim Mr Chau financed a $263,000 bribe to former UN General Assembly President John Ashe in 2013.
The bribe was reportedly paid on behalf of the United Front, which is believed to be a propaganda wing of the Chinese Communist Party.
Last week, Mr Burgess described the puppeteer as someone with “direct and deep ties to a foreign government and its intelligence agencies”.
“I can confirm that ASIO has recently detected and disrupted a plot of foreign interference in the run-up to an election in Australia,” he said last Wednesday.
“I will not identify jurisdiction as we are witnessing attempts at foreign interference at all levels of government, in all states and territories.
“The puppeteer hired a person to enable foreign interference operations and used an offshore bank account to provide hundreds of thousands of dollars for operating expenses.
“Secretly shaping the jurisdiction’s political scene for the benefit of foreign power was seen as a key performance indicator. It was like a foreign interference start-up.
The employee identified potential candidates for election who supported foreign government interests or who were considered vulnerable to incitement.
He then allegedly used connections with politicians, staff and journalists to screen potential targets.
Frank Gehry-designed landmark building at Sydney University of Technology named after businessman Chau Chak Wing following $20m donation
“The puppeteer and employee mapped out ways to advance the political prospects of candidates through generous support, placing supportive stories on foreign-language news platforms and providing other forms of assistance. “
The candidates had no knowledge of the plot.
“Our intervention ensured the plan was not executed and damage was avoided,” Burgess said.
If some of the candidates had been elected, he said, they would have been asked to hire particular personnel who were foreign government agents, passing on information and potentially influencing how the member voted.
On Monday evening, Mr Burgess also confirmed that Labor candidates in the federal election were not among those being investigated by ASIO.
Labor leader Anthony Albanese insisted he had no concerns and added: ‘The Director General of ASIO has never voiced his concerns about any of my candidates.
Mr Burgess said on Monday: ‘Mr Albanese gave an accurate account of the conversation I had with him when he asked me this question.’
