James Paterson calls on Housing Minister and Labor to ‘come clean' about CCP links amid volunteer recruitment controvery
Shadow home affairs Minister James Paterson has called on the Housing Minister and the Labor Party to 'come clean' about their associations with organisations linked to the Chinese Communist Party amid an ongoing controversy over the recruiting of volunteers.
It was reported by The Australian this week that ten individuals associated with a group linked to Beijing's influence operations agency were being recruited to staff Housing Minister Clare O'Neil's election day polling booths.
Ms O'Neil has rejected claims she requested support from the Hubei Association, which has previously been accused of working with the Chinese Communist Party's United Front Department.
"I didn't make any requests for assistance from this organisation. The support was offered to my team, my team declined that support, and that was the end of the matter,' she said on Wednesday morning.
Senator Paterson told Sky News on Thursday morning he was 'extremely concerned' about possible links between candidates and the CCP.
'Our intelligence agencies have been telling us for years that foreign interference and espionage is higher than it has ever been in our history, higher than even at the height of the Cold War,' Mr Paterson said.
The shadow home affairs minister said he was particularly concerned about allegations of people, associated with 'linked entities' of the CCP, being involved in several election campaigns, including for Minister O'Neil in her electorate of Hotham.
'It appears from the reporting in The Australian today that Clare O'Neil and the Labor Party have not been completely up front and honest about their relationship with these individuals and with these groups,' Mr Paterson told Sky News Host Peter Stefanovic.
'I think they really need to come clean today about how long they've been associating with these organisations, how long they've been seeking their support and how long they've been using their volunteers.'
The Australian reported that Labor Party member Chap Chow, a self-described political organiser and 'friend' of Ms O'Neil, arranged with the Hubei Association to recruit volunteers to staff her polling booths on election day.
It was revealed Mr Chap contacted Mr Ji on Tuesday to cancel a group of volunteers after news broke of their involvement in the cabinet minister's campaign.
Meanwhile, concerns have emerged over whether campaign volunteers for Teal MP Monique Ryan were directed to support her by the Hubei Association.
A volunteer from the Hubei Association said in a video posted online that the group's president, Ji Jianmin, had directed Chinese diaspora to support Ms Ryan.
Ms Ryan admitted to having several meetings with Mr Ji but said she had not asked for support from him directly.
Australia's Electoral Taskforce is set to investigate allegations of foreign interference by the Hubei Association, and Mr Paterson told Sky News on Wednesday it was good thing the task force was taking up the issue.
'It was bad enough already when we had Monique Ryan's campaign embroiled in this. It is even more serious that we now have a Labor campaign and also… a Greens campaign involved as well,' Mr Paterson told Sky News host Chris Kenny.
'It's especially surprising that Clare O'Neil has found herself caught up in this, because, as the former Minister for Home Affairs, no one in the Federal Parliament should better understand the risks of foreign interference than her.'
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