Anthony Albanese defends high-value fundraising dinners against claims they let wealthy donors shape policy. Jim Penman points to a donor whose father faces Australian Tax Office pursuit over allegedly funneling $270 million from China, asking if that's a red flag.
I don't talk about private dinners. I've held a number this week here in Adelaide.
Well, of course, of course you don't want to talk about them because you're making so much money from doing it. It's influence on you as the Prime Minister by going to these rich people and getting these fundraising dinners, which are going to distort the policies that you do. Of course you don't want to talk about it, but it's a really insidious example of all the problems with politics. Money talks, even to Labor.
In this one, the concern is that his father is accused by the tax office of deceiving authorities about funneling huge sums of money from China to Australia. Is that a concern for you?
Well, I'm not aware of those issues. Should he have been aware? He wasn't there. He wasn't there. I attended a dinner last night with 750 people. I'm not asking about that. But they're the facts, David. I attend a lot of meetings, functions with lots of people, and talking about people's relatives, even removed from that. Well, it's where the money's coming from.
Well, yeah, that's right. Maybe you should be looking at who's going to these dinners, because the appearance of partiality is pretty damning when you actually spend time with people who've done very dodgy things.
Is this going to be looked into, whether there's a red flag here?
Well, we declare All of our donations in accordance with the rules, we're transparent about it. I do attend a lot of events, and, uh, you know, that, that is part of, uh, the process that occurs engaging with people.
Yeah, of course. So you get these multi, multi-million dollar donations which are given to you for what reason? Because they love you? Because they think you're, you're a good-looking, kind guy? Because they expect to get some advantage from you, Anthony? That's the biggest problem. You give you all the money from these people are going to influence what you do. Otherwise, why would they pay it? Why would they pay so much to go to a dinner with you unless they were getting something from it?
So the guy's dad at the house he went to is being chased from the ATO for $270 million, and he went to the son's house in Point Piper.
Yeah, as if he, as if he couldn't check out a thing like that, as if he couldn't work out exactly whose dinner he's going to and see the evidence impropriety. I mean, we're talking hundreds of millions of dollars of tax evasion. Come on. You should know better. The fact is money speaks. Money from the union, money from the— money from wealthy people, they all want something from you. They all want to twist politics in a way that's not to the benefit of ordinary Australian citizens.
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