House debates Questions without Notice

Minister for Home Affairs

Wednesday, 11 September 2019 House of Representatives

Mark Dreyfus

Mark Dreyfus Isaacs, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Attorney General

2:51 pm

My question is to the Prime Minister. Did the actions of the Minister for Home Affairs meet the high standards expected of ministers under the ministerial standards, given an ABC report that the Minister for Home Affairs had a private lunch with Huang Xiangmo at a Chinese restaurant in Sydney which was arranged by a lobbyist who called the minister 'one of his best friends' and said that he could arrange access to the minister's office for $20,000? Has the Prime Minister taken any steps to investigate that report?

Scott Morrison

Scott Morrison Cook, Liberal Party, Prime Minister

2:52 pm

The declarations that are made in relation to donations are set out on the public record. I want to make something very clear: when I was talking about money changing hands, I wasn't talking about donations. I was talking about expenses that were picked up personally by Senator Dastyari—his legal expenses and his travel expenses. I've made no reference to donations. Donations should be declared in the ordinary course of business. They are and they should be, and they should be transparent. And that's the case here.