Face of Nation : NSW Labor boss Kaila Murnain has explosively told an anti-corruption inquiry she was advised by the party’s lawyer not to tell anyone a Chinese billionaire had made a potentially illegal donation to the party.
Ms Murnain told the Independent Commission against Corruption on Wednesday that in 2016 upper house MP Ernest Wong told her Huang Xiangmo – who was a prohibited donor – had made a donation to the state Labor party.
After calling Sam Dastyari, who was a Labor senator at the time, for advice Ms Murnain went to see the party’s lawyer, Ian Robertson, in Sydney.
“At the end of the conversation, Ian told me … there is no need to do anything from here, don’t record this meeting, don’t put it in your diary, forget the conversation happened with Ernest … and don’t tell anyone about it,” Ms Murnain told the ICAC hearing.Ms Murnain told the inquiry on Wednesday she was advised to “forget the conversation happened” after she informed the lawyer she believed what Mr Wong had told her.
