Dumped Labor MP Sam Dastyari opens up on his regrets over his 'arrogant' and 'foolish' dealings with China that ended his career
- Former Labor senator Sam Dastyari was slammed by Q&A panellists on Monday
- Ex-powerbroker admitted he was 'arrogant' in his dealings with Chinese agents
- It came as Liberal MP Gladys Liu's membership of Chinese groups was revealed
Disgraced former Labor powerbroker Sam Dastyari has spoken candidly about his dealings with China on an ABC panel show.
The 36-year-old former senator and Opposition frontbencher admitted he was 'foolish' and 'arrogant' when he dealt with a billionaire linked to the Chinese Communist Party in a move that last year ended his political career.
He admitted wrongdoing when a Q&A audience member asked if politicians should have their offices searched for evidence of collusion with China - following Australian Federal Police raids on journalists for 'homeland security' purposes.
Dumped Labor MP Sam Dastyari spoke candidly on Q&A on Monday night when his dealings with China came under fire by other panellists
'I take full responsibility. I was young. Arrogant. Foolish. And thought I was smarter than anyone else,' Mr Dastyari said.
'I've got to this point in my life two years after a momentous scandal - journalists parked in front of your house for weeks, your marriage falls apart, entire life collapsing in front of you - by being able to accept that I am responsible for my own downfall.'
Mr Dastyari resigned from Parliament early last year after the Australian Security and Intelligence Organisation revealed he had met with Chinese billionaire and political donor Huang Xiangmo at his Mosman mansion, on Sydney's lower north shore.
As a senator, he had given a media conference to Chinese-language media contradicting Labor's position on the disputed South China Sea, and had also allowed a Chinese donor to foot a $1,670 travel bill.
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Victorian Liberal senator James Paterson slammed him when he compared himself to embattled backbench Liberal MP Gladys Liu, who has confirmed she belonged to several groups linked to the Chinese Communist Party.
'You advised them [Chinese spies] how to avoid detection,' Senator Paterson said.
United States Studies Centre fellow John Lee, an expert on China, also criticised Mr Dastyari over this comparison to the Hong Kong-born MP.
'I do think that you're trying to absolve yourself by equating yourself with Gladys Liu,' he said.
The former senator (far left) admitted he was 'foolish' and 'arrogant' when he dealt with Chinese agents in a move that ended his political career in 2017
'Look at the differences. What's received personally and to the party. What was given in return.'
Mr Dastyari, a former Labor general secretary in New South Wales, responded with an attack of his own.
'I'm getting a lecture from someone who works for the US Studies Centre, which is registered as a foreign agent in this country,' adding that he didn't appear on the program to 'play this game of kick Sam'.
Mr Dastyari, a former Right-faction powerbroker in the Labor Party, has called for taxpayer-funded election campaigns so political parties no longer had to rely on fundraising and donations.
'The entire culture of donations and fundraising I think has become completely corrupted,' he said.
'The system is broken, I am a symbol of the system being broken.'
Ms Liu, the first-term member for Chisholm in Melbourne, last week admitted she had links to Chinese Communist Party front groups.
Her office released a statement confirming she had a role with the Guangdong Overseas Exchange Association in 2011.
A day earlier, she had denied her connection with a range of Chinese groups during a disastrous interview with Sky News commentator Andrew Bolt.
