Western Australian Liberal MP Andrew Hastie has used parliamentary privilege to name billionaire Chau Chak Wing for his alleged involvement in the bribery of John Ashe, a former president of the UN General Assembly.
Mr Ashe died while awaiting trial in 2016.
Until now, the Australian man has been known as ‘Co-Conspirator 3’ or ‘CC3’ in US court documents.
“The Australian people deserve the truth,” Mr Hastie, chair of the Parliamentary Joint Committee for Intelligence and Security, told Parliament’s Federation Chamber on Tuesday night.
Mr Hastie led a parliamentary delegation to the United States earlier this month to meet with intelligence officials.
“During discussions with US authorities, I confirmed the long-suspected identity of CC3,” Mr Hastie said.
“It is now my duty to inform the House and the Australian people that CC3 is Dr Chau Chak Wing, the same man who co-conspired to bribe the United Nations president of the General Assembly John Ashe.”
The Liberal MP was speaking under parliamentary privilege, which gives him immunity from legal action.
Mr Hastie alleged Mr Chau, a Chinese-born Australian billionaire, was behind a USD $225,000 payment to Mr Ashe and his entourage to attend a real estate conference in China in 2017.
“[Mr Chau] has also been a very significant donor to both of our major political parties,” Mr Hastie said.
“He's given $4 million since 2004 [and] he's also donated $45 million to universities in Australia.”
Mr Chau has been one of the most prominent identities in concerns about foreign interference in Australian politics.
The billionaire property developer was the subject of an ASIO warning to politicians in 2015.
The Dr Chau Chak Wing building at the University of Technology, Sydney has been named after him.
In comments to The Australian newspaper in 2017, he rejected reports he was an agent of China’s ruling Communist Party.
"The most distressing allegation in recent days is that I am somehow acting as a conduit for information for the Chinese Communist Party, which risks jeopardising Australia's sovereignty,” he told the publication.
"For clarity, I am not and have never been a member of the Chinese Communist Party, and I completely reject any suggestion I have acted in any way on behalf of, or under instruction from, that entity."
MP Andrew Hastie. Source: AAP
SBS News has contacted his company, Kingold Group, for comment.
Mr Hastie was speaking out in support of the government’s legislation to crack down on foreign interference in Australian politics.
“In Australia, it's clear the Chinese Communist Party is working to covertly interfere with our media, our universities, and also influence our political processes and public debates,” the former special forces soldier told Parliament on Tuesday evening.
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