Well, I am flabbergasted. I think I just spotted an extremely rare creature in the wilds of the Parliament — a politician with integrity.
When Andrew Hastie was pre-selected I admit I was somewhat unimpressed. He seemed to be of the same mould as the typical Liberal candidate.
However, his revelations about Dr Chau Chak Wing and his involvement in bribes, links to the Chinese Communist Party and activities in Australia have certainly impressed me. For once I have seen a politician take a stand, and appear to act with integrity to address an issue.
Hastie, who chairs the powerful intelligence and security committee, used parliamentary privilege to make the claim. In relation to the bribes, Andrew Hastie said is amounted to around $200,000.
Dr Chau is an Australian citizen and he has made donations to both the Liberal and the Labor parties. Who influences our political parties and just who do they really work for?
There are bound to be repercussion from Hastie’s explosive decision to name the billionaire political donor as funding the bribery of a senior United Nations official. Did he have permission to make those revelations from the organisation that told him?
The United States embassy has made it clear it is not uncomfortable with Hastie’s actions. How will China react? It seems they’ve been cooling towards Australia for a while over proposed foreign interference laws anyway, so this might just be the thing to derail progress.
There are reports stating that those close to Hastie have said he did what he did because he has become sincerely worried about the influence of China on Australian institutions and politics.
It’s always a bit hard to determine who is acting for who. As someone who was in the right — or maybe wrong — place during the Whitlam dismissal, I know only too well Australian politics is being heavily influenced by others.
I hope Hastie is not just a bit player in a wider intrigue. I really hope he is what he appeared to be — a politician with integrity.