The Horse’s Mouth: How a foreign power spied on an Australian defence minister; the backstory to all these Taiwan junkets

How an ally spied on Howard government defence minister

Much thought clearly went into Joe Biden’s gift to Anthony Albanese in 2023 of an $11,500 “custom VPI classic turntable with commemorative plaque”. As did Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi’s gift to the prime minister this month of an “art vinyl record storage cabinet”.

The prime minister’s declarations to the interests register show he usually surrenders official gifts from foreign dignitaries to his department, but DJ Albo kept these ones. As the US and Japanese governments probably calculated he would.

Albanese is supposed to provide the estimated value of gifts under the declaration rules, but most MPs never do this. On face value, Takaichi’s gift is worth more than $750, as MPs are only required to declare gifts from public officials over that amount (or more than $300 if from a private source). However, some MPs routinely declare gifts under the threshold. It’s likely, though, that the Japanese government probably gave him something tasteful and expensive.

Open Politics has long banged on about the need to ban ministers and other parliamentarians from accepting gifts, junkets and hospitality, as freebies can create social pressure to return the favour. It’s an abuse of society’s norm of reciprocity that increases the risk of misconduct and corruption.  

Low-value gifts, however — things like cheap notepads, pens and calendars — do not unduly influence MPs. The same goes for minor customary gifts provided by foreign dignitaries during official engagements, such as figurines, paintings and knick-knacks.

Even expensive gifts like a VPI turntable with a plaque from the world’s most powerful person to the PM in 2023 are not a major concern, because if the prime minister or his ministers wish to retain a gift, they’re required by gift guidelines to pay the difference between the $750 limit for gifts from government sources and a gift’s estimated value. (This means Albanese forked out more than $10,000 to keep Joe’s gift.)

While gifts from foreign dignitaries are a low integrity risk, they’re not necessarily harmless, as the late Liberal MP John Moore discovered when he was defence minister from 1998 to early 2001.

A senior person in the Howard government who was close to Moore and his staff told me in the mid-2000s, and reconfirmed last month, that Moore was given a wall calendar by a foreign government that turned out to have a secret listening device.

I recall when I first heard this story that Moore had hung the calendar in his Brisbane home office and that Defence technicians discovered the device during a security sweep of his property. However, my source was unable to confirm these aspects when I spoke to them in recent days.

They did provide an interesting new detail: the calendar was a gift from a “friendly” — an ally of Australia.

My immediate thought was the United States or the United Kingdom, as both are notorious for spying on their allies. But of course, espionage against friendly nations is a common practice. Who can forget Australia spying on Timor-Leste in 2004 to gain the upper hand in negotiations over joint gas reserves?

If a minister, or any public official, wishes to retain gifts, they are required to have them scanned by their departments for listening devices, hidden cameras and passive bugs. The Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet would’ve certainly done this for Joe Biden’s gift for the PM.     

This policy has been in place for decades. However, we don’t know how strictly it was followed, or needed to be adhered to, when Moore was defence minister. Perhaps he forgot to get the gift scanned or didn’t think a calendar posed a huge security risk? Or maybe Moore had it scanned, but Defence missed the bug on first inspection?

This is not a criticism of Moore or his department. Ministers are flooded with gifts from foreign governments and influence peddlers, so it’s easy to see how some bugs can slip through. Anthony Albanese alone received 106 declarable gifts in his first three years as prime minister, several of which he has retained.

Taipei food market. Photo: Vernon Raineil Cenzon

Seven MPs and senators visited Taiwan from late April to early May courtesy of the Taiwan Economic & Cultural Office in Australia (don’t call it an embassy!), which ponied up for the cost of their international flights, accommodation and meals.

The junketeers included Labor MP Carol Brown and Senators Josh Dolega and Helen Polley, Liberal MPs Dan Tehan and Jason Wood, and Senator Anne Ruston, and Nationals MP Leon Rebello.

As with all privately funded overseas trips for politicians, we couldn’t identify one single thing that the Taipei jaunt achieved for Australia. Sure, the MPs made all the right noises about the importance of trade and the “energy partnership” between the two countries, particularly in the context of Donald Trump’s upending of energy supply chains.

But does anyone really believe these politicians, none of whom have executive power and stand little chance of becoming ministers any time soon, have strengthened Australia’s trade and energy security by going on a junket?   

The trips must be of value to Taiwan as they have funded at least 30 trips for federal MPs and senators (and sometimes their spouses) to visit the island since 2019, the most of any foreign government or lobby group. So what does Taiwan hope to achieve?

As Open Politics has argued before, these trips are a soft power tool used by Taiwan to promote foreign support for the island vis-à-vis mainland China. No-one can blame democratic Taiwan for wanting to remain separate from the People’s Republic of China, but it’s hardly in Australia’s national interest to get involved in a dispute with a superpower — one that happens to be our biggest trading partner.