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The real reason Sam Dastyari had to resign from the shadow frontbench

Photo: AAP

Sam Dastyari chose the wrong topic to make public statements about, according to academics who say it was the senator’s South China Sea remarks that made his position on the Labor frontbench untenable.

Tensions in the South China Sea are so high that even without the perception of an MP being compromised, it is a subject that should be left to the highest ranks of political leaders.

Senator Dastyari resigned his shadow ministry position on Wednesday following a week of political pressure over revelations that Top Education, a company linked to the Chinese government, had paid a $1670 travel bill for him.

The fact he had publicly made comments supporting China’s controversial military build-up in the South China Sea – which is contrary to Labor’s position as well as that of the Australian government – compounded the issue for him.

Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull labelled it “cash for comment” and demanded Opposition Leader Bill Shorten sack the senator.

Australian National University politics professor John Wanna said it was the subject matter that made it such a difficult position for Senator Dastyari and Mr Shorten.

“The crucial thing is not the donation to the party by way of a bill being paid, it was the statement the senator made that was contrary to his party’s position and the position of the government,” Professor Wanna told The New Daily.

“That statement gave the impression that the payment had changed his mind, or swayed his opinion.

“This is a very confrontational area. China is behaving badly, claiming all sorts of territory that is not actually theirs.

“Australia, and presumably the Labor Party, don’t want to give China the impression that it can influence decisions and commentary simply by paying bills – and for what China would consider pin money.”

The South China Sea ruling

AAP

The South China Sea is becoming a fulcrum for China’s regional aspirations. Photo: AAP

A landmark ruling in July by an international tribunal in The Hague found China had no legal basis to most of its territorial claims in the South China Sea where it has been artificially building small islands.

The tribunal also found the island building to be illegal. The ruling was made under the United Nations Convention on the law of the sea, but China has vowed to ignore it.

About $5 trillion in global shipping trade passes through the waters annually – making the issue a potential diplomatic time bomb.

Professor of International Law at the ANU, Don Rothwell, said the issue was fraught with potential dangers and that Australia’s response had to be considered.

But he said Senator Dastyari could hardly be seen to have influenced Australian domestic policy.

Australia’s fine line

“Sam Dastyari has been referred to this week as a junior senator (by Mr Shorten); and he doesn’t have any portfolio responsibilities that extend to the South China Sea; and he is not noted as any kind of South China Sea expert,” Professor Rothwell said.

“But I do think it is very important for Australia to calibrate its response to this region very carefully on the South China Sea issue.

“And I think Mr Turnbull’s comments on it this week around the G20, ASEAN and East Asian summits are reflective of that and are well measured.”

“Offering to host a special ASEAN summit in Australia in two years is a very constructive gesture.”

Professor Rothwell said while a treaty would be a good way of bringing the conflict to a resolution, there doesn’t seem to be too much political will for one at the moment.

Speaking from Laos on Thursday, Mr Turnbull said Senator Dastyari’s resignation was a failure of Mr Shorten’s leadership.

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Australia needs to carefully calibrate its response to the South China Sea issue. Photo: AAP

“Bill Shorten was defending Sam Dastyari and his conduct right up to the moment Dastyari chose to fall on his sword,” the Prime Minister said.

“The real issue I think here is what is it about Sam Dastyari and his hold on Mr Shorten?”

Mr Shorten responded that he wouldn’t be lecture to about political courage by Mr Turnbull.

“What happened to the old Malcolm Turnbull that believed marriage equality should be decided by a vote in Parliament?” he said.

Chris Johnson is a Walkley Award-winning journalist who has spent the past decade working in the Canberra Press Gallery, most recently as the bureau chief for Fairfax Media. He is now a Political Correspondent for The New Daily.

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