Huang Xiangmo

Huang Xiangmo is a Chinese-born Australian property developer. He is the founder and chairman of Yuhu Group, a property development company with operations in Australia and China. Mr. Huang has been a major political donor to both the Australian Labor Party and the Liberal Party contributing almost $3 million. 

In 2015 it was revealed that Mr. Huang had supported Sam Dastyari in his legal battle against an advertising agency with Yuhu Group paying for the case being settled at a cost of roughly $5000. 

In 2017 Mr. Huang was accused of being a "foreign agent of influence" by the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation (ASIO). ASIO warned that Mr. Huang was using his political donations to gain access to Australian politicians and to influence Australian policy in favour of China.

Despite these warnings, it was revealed that Tony Abbott’s office has encouraged Mr. Huang to donate to a Liberal campaign during the 2016 election. In 2017 it was also revealed that Mr. Huang had paid $55,000 to attend a lunch with Bill Shorten.

In 2019 Mr. Huang had his permanent residency revoked alongside his application for Australian citizenship being denied. This was due to ASIO's earlier identification of Mr. Huang being “amenable to conducting acts of foreign interference.” 

In a statement Mr. Huang described how he had been treated in an “unfair manner”:

"It is profoundly disappointing to be treated in such a grotesquely unfair manner…The decision of visa cancellation was made based on unfounded speculations that are prejudiced and groundless. This is not the Australia that I believe in, the Australia of freedom, democracy, rule-of-law and fairness, but I keep my faith in law and justice."

Mr. Huang then called upon both of Australia’s major political parties to return his past donations if any of them seemed “appropriate”:

"If any of the past donations I made was deemed inappropriate by any political party or political figure, I again propose the option for them to duly return the amount donated without the need to pay any interest. The returned money will be then donated to Australian charitable organisations accordingly."

Sources & Further Reading

https://www.friendlyjordies.com/post/tony-abbott-huang-xiangmo-donation

https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2019/feb/08/give-back-my-money-banned-billionaire-huang-xiangmo-hits-out-at-political-parties

https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/chinese-donor-the-yuhu-group-steps-in-to-help-sam-dastyari-20150327-1m9be2.html

https://www.friendlyjordies.com/post/sam-dastyari

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-12-12/chinese-billionaire-paid-$55,000-for-lunch-with-shorten/9248342

https://www.friendyjordies.com/post/bill-shorten

https://thediplomat.com/2019/02/why-did-australia-push-out-a-chinese-communist-party-linked-billionaire/

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2019-02-09/chinese-billionaire-huang-xiangmo-wants-political-donations-back/10794726

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-12-12/huang-xiangmos-development-linked-to-greater-sydney-commission/9247860

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-12-08/sam-dastyari-faces-referral-to-powerful-privileges-committee/9240196

https://michaelwest.com.au/tony-abbotts-office-aided-chinese-donation-after-asio-warning/

https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/abbott-s-office-involved-in-china-donation-after-asio-warning-20180228-p4z27a.html

https://www.smh.com.au/national/chinese-king-of-the-mountain-brush-with-corruption-scandal-20160224-gn2tvt.html

https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/abbott-money-man-hit-by-china-donations-scandal-20170614-gwr3ta.html

https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/tony-abbott-says-malcolm-turnbull-trying-to-create-something-out-of-nothing-on-peter-dutton-20190410-p51cp8.html

https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/a-man-of-many-dimensions-the-big-chinese-donor-now-in-canberra-s-sights-20190206-p50vzt.html

https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2021/oct/20/huang-xiangmo-alleged-agent-of-chinese-influence-exiled-from-australia-now-on-hong-kong-electoral-body

https://www.smh.com.au/national/communist-party-appoints-influence-agent-huang-xiangmo-to-top-hong-kong-post-20211015-p590bp.html