Rex Patricks calls for amendments to Australia s foreign influence legislation16/12/2020|7min
Independent Senator Rex Patrick is calling for amendments to Australia’s foreign influence legislation to force Australians to declare membership of any foreign political party, arguing current legislations fall short in many ways .
His call comes after intelligence experts warned that Australia’s Beijing’s embassy was at risk of mistakenly hiring Chinese spies by using a Chinese government-controlled agency.
The Australian newspaper on Wednesday revealed the embassy was attempting to recruit consulate staff using an external hiring agency.
The report comes after a data leak uncovered at least 10 Shanghai consulates have members of the Chinese Communist Party working in senior positions.