CLANCY OVERELL | Editor | CONTACT
Labor senator Sam Dastyari has called for an end to the way in which parties compete for donations, and a total ban on all future political donations – unless someone wants to sort out some flights for him on his next trip to China.
“I mean, there’s just no need for businesses both in and outside Australia to be giving money to the Government” he said.
“Unless of course our officials find themselves strapped during a trip and someone offers to pick up the bill”
This comes after Dasher’s resignation from Labor’s frontbench last September in the wake of a political donations scandal, where the senator stood down from his position as Manager of Opposition Business in the Senate – after it was revealed that he had asked Top Education, a company with links to the Chinese state – to pay an overspend on his office’s travel of $1,670.
“That was a one-off, and it really ruined my whole halal snack pack thing I had going on at the time”
“I think we should ban all political donations – unless there’s been a significant overspend in travel… Like a huge one that you kind of want to go away”
