The Coalition might need to be a little careful about its absurd claim about Labor collusion with a foreign power over Barnaby Joyce (which had even the government’s rusted-on cheerleaders at The Australian shaking their heads). This morning in the Senate, the government tried to censure Penny Wong on the issue, but bizarrely undertook it without checking if it had secured the support of the crossbenchers — so the censure motion failed.
More problematic is that, when it comes to collusion with foreign political parties, the Coalition makes Labor look positively innocuous. Meet Michael Ashcroft, known to his friends as Lord Ashcroft, a Tory peer, longtime donor, businessman and tax exile — who was Tory Treasurer from 1998-2001 and deputy chair of the Tory party from 2005-10. Just prior to the 2004 election, Ashcroft gave the Liberal party $1 million. In 2010 (while deputy chair), he gave $250,000 to the Liberals. And he gave the same amount in 2013. There’s also the relatively minor matter of Republican operative and former Dubya ambassador to Australia Mel Sembler handing US$10,000 to the Liberals.
Still, you could argue that Ashcroft and Sembler were merely donating as individuals. What, then, are we to make of then-Liberal Party director Brian Loughnane being exposed in the Chelsea Manning cables as boasting of the close ties between the Liberal Party and the Republicans? In 2006, a US diplomat met Loughnane and told the State Department:
As Federal Director, Loughnane is the senior political operative in Prime Minister John Howard’s Liberal Party, the dominant party in the Government Coalition. He noted that the close ties between President Bush and Howard where [sic] reflected in the similarly strong ties between the Australian Liberal and U.S. Republican parties.”
Linking Australia’s alliance relationship with the US to the “strong ties” between the Liberals and the Republicans? Makes a question about citizenship rules looks pretty minor.
Iraq’ed my brain, Wondering if Murdoch’s Duplicity qualifies as “foreign political power” – when it comes to complicit meddling in our national politics.
Wasn’t the then treasurer or president of the Liberal Party heading off overseas to raise money for an election campaign a few years ago?
Jeez Bernard…you have really outdone yourself today. Yet another good article…this time demonstrating the hypocrisy of those ‘born to rule’.
What are they putting in the Milo down there in the Crikey bunker???
It should be noted that Ashcroft’s money comes from his.. err.. business interests in Belize, one of the least developed remnants of the English speaking empire, one the east coast of Central America.
Given its disclosure laws, no further information on what exactly garnered him such wealth is available.
It’s only real advantage is as a handy staging point between Colombia & the US.
Handy to the Caymans, I think.