Daily US Times: An Australian MP is to be suspended from his party after report came out his office is facing investigation by national security agencies over alleged links to China.
On Friday, authorities raided the office and home of Shaoquett Moselmane, a New South Wales state politician. Mr Moselmane is a lawmaker from the opposition Labor Party.
Intelligence agencies and police said they involved an “ongoing investigation”, but did not give further details.
The accused MP is yet to comment publicly.
His leader, Jodi McKay, said media reports that the raids involved possible allegations of Chinese government interference within Mr Moselmane’s office were “dreadfully concerning”.
She told reporters on Friday that the investigation needs to run its course adding that Mr Moselmane will not sit in the party’s caucus.
Scott Morrison, Prime Minister of Australia, said he could not go into the details of the investigation but it had been “going on for some time”.
He said: “The government is absolutely determined to ensure that nobody interferes with Australia’s activities.”
“We will stand up to it. And we will take action, as what you’ve seen today demonstrates.”
Earlier, the Australian Federal Police (AFP) and the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation (Asio) confirmed the raids in Sydney.
Asio said: “This activity does not relate to any specific threat to the community,” adding that ot would not comment further.
The Sydney Morning Herald was the first media to report the allegations. The newspaper said the investigation against the Australian MP had been running for months but no allegations had been proven.
Relations between the two countries have been particularly fraught since Australia called for an investigation into the origins of the coronavirus pandemic. In recent weeks, China has placed economic sanctions on Australia.
There have been years of debate about alleged Chinese attempts to influence politics in Australia, Beijing has consistently denied and dismissed the claims as “hysteria”.
Australia passed sweeping new security and counter-espionage laws in 2018 aimed at preventing foreign interference in politics and other domestic affairs.
An Australian senator was forced to resign in 2017 following scrutiny over his dealings with a Chinese businessman.
Sam Dastyari has been at the centre of several claims in recent days – a year after he first became embroiled in a donation scandal.
Prime Minister Scott Morrison also warned last week that government agencies and businesses were facing an increase in cyber attacks from a “state actor”, in remarks broadly interpreted as aimed at China.
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