Fitzgibbon - not just incompetent, but possibly a traitor.

[weemadando]

Fitzgibbon for anyone overseas, is the recently fired Australian Minister for Defence. Fired because of massive bungling of what should have been minor internal issues (like a payroll error) that turned into national headlines and turned the Defence Force against him. And also for having very close ties to a lady who was suspected of being a Chinese agent provacateur (at the very least).

So, now it seems that the Chinese deals appear to have been confirmed and he received unreported payments (outside of the campaign donations) from this person.

Fitzgibbon's $150,000 from developer
RICHARD BAKER, PHILIP DORLING AND NICK MCKENZIE
February 3, 2010
Former Defence Minister Joel Fitzgibbon during question time yesterday.

PRIVATE records of a Chinese-Australian businesswoman close to former defence minister Joel Fitzgibbon indicate he received substantial payments as part of a campaign to cultivate him as an agent of political and business influence.

The confidential papers of businesswoman Helen Liu contradict claims last year by Mr Fitzgibbon - and his father, former Labor MP Eric Fitzgibbon - that they had no financial or business relationship with Ms Liu.

Mr Fitzgibbon resigned from Cabinet last June after it was revealed his brother, NIB Health Funds chief Mark Fitzgibbon, had used his office to lobby for defence health contracts.

The minister's political standing had already been weakened by his failure to disclose that he had accepted two first-class flights to China bankrolled by Ms Liu, a wealthy entrepreneur with high-level political and military contacts in Beijing. He was also renting his Canberra residence from the Liu family.

The documents obtained by The Age show Ms Liu recorded her 1997-98 payment of 850,000 Chinese yuan - approximately $150,000 at the then current values - to Joel Fitzgibbon under the heading ''money paid including expenses and gifts''.

In a letter to a senior Bank of China executive, Ms Liu wrote that Joel Fitzgibbon would become a cabinet minister when federal Labor won power, adding: ''The money we pay him is worthwhile.''

"I totally reject the suggestion that I have received any money from Helen Liu beyond campaign donations which were appropriately declared as required," Mr Fitzgibbon said last night in response to the latest disclosures.

The Age can also reveal that the office of Deputy Prime Minister Julia Gillard was told in April last year by lawyers for a former business associate of Ms Liu that Mr Fitzgibbon may have had more extensive dealings with the businesswoman than acknowledged.
To read more of this exclusive report, buy your copy of today's Age.

[Tanasinn]

Does Australia have a death sentence for treason? Guy might have more to worry about than being fired.

**Edit**

Googling says apparently not, though I'll be surprised if the guy could be hired dog-catcher after this.

[loomer]

We don't have it for anything. Well, not officially, but it frankly wouldn't surprise me all that much if this guy had an accident courtesy of ASIS or was murdered by some psychopath working on their own.

[Stark]

It's not like it's likely they'll be able to pin actual treason on him anyway. Corrupt politicians are nothing new; this guy was just remarkably stupid.

[Edward Yee]

I wonder if there's an Australian equivalent of "dismissed in disgrace"?

[weemadando]

It's not like it's likely they'll be able to pin actual treason on him anyway. Corrupt politicians are nothing new; this guy was just remarkably stupid.

I doubt he'll make it onto the ALP ticket at the next election. Criminal charges are doubtful, but really, if this man was stupid enough to take large amounts of money from the Chinese, on top of being a corrupt fucker in other aspects of his career I don't see how he could keep any clearances that he has into the future which would put a crimp on his political prospects.

[mr friendly guy]

Lets put a few things in perspective.

AFAIK Helen Liu is also an Australian citizen. As such accepting political donations from an Australian citizen is hardly treasonous. The fact that she has friends in high places in China doesn't mean shit unless it can be shown the relationships helped her sell out Australia or something. Good luck with that. Moreover didn't ex opposition leader Malcolm Turnbull back down after it was also revealed either himself or members of his own party had also received donations from Mrs Liu? A rich corporate type donating to both sides of politics. Who ever heard of such a thing.

Its very likely Helen Liu was trying to do the same thing as other rich corporate types with political donations. Gain influence. But unless this influence involving selling out Australia the treason claim is still as ridiculous as when Malcolm Turnbull tried to play the "China scare" card, only to back down when it turned up his own party was equally culpable.

If Fitzgibbon took campaign donations from say a Jewish Australian business woman no one would even be saying "if this man was stupid enough to take large amounts of money from the Jews / Israel, on top of being a corrupt fucker in other aspects of his career I don't see how he could keep any clearances that he has into the future which would put a crimp on his political prospects". The fact that Helen Liu was a Chinese national before becoming an Australian citizen is irrelevant as is her ethnicity. We are all equal before the law and as such insinuating that her actions is treasonous with zero evidence is defamation.

But hey, I guess the "Japan scare" stick went of fashion in the 1980s, its now the China scare card right?

[weemadando]

I doubt that there'll ever be clear evidence one way or another on the matter. Even if it's just "innocent" donations to gain influence that they're as widespread as everyone suspects them to be, neither side of politics can use them as they're not going to hang themselves with the same rope as their opponents.

Also - the difference is that in this case he took money off the books. This isn't a "donation" and the intent stated in the [supposed] correspondence by Ms Liu makes it pretty clear:

"Joel Fitzgibbon has become a federal (MP). If the Labor Party becomes the dominant party, he will become a cabinet member," she wrote to the bank executive. Before asking the bank to be "more co-operative with us and not make any trouble", she offered an intriguing aside in reference to Fitzgibbon. "The money we pay him is worthwhile."

This might just be desperate begging from a person who's facing bankruptcy and clutching at straws - but the fact is that it (in Australia at least) represents political corruption on an unusually large scale. And when this person was the Defence Minister hackles are going to be raised above the norm.

[weemadando]

Addendum - I seem to have brainfarted and forgotten that the Bank of China is no longer hte central bank, that's the People's Bank of China for the past decade or so now.

So, he wasn't taking money on behalf of the Chinese gov't, just on behalf of yet more corporate interests.

As such:
Fitzgibbon - not just incompetent, but possibly a traitor almost certainly corrupt as a motherfucker.

[mr friendly guy]

I can agree with that. He seemed not much different than a few corrupt politicians over the years. The only other difference is because of the ethnicity of his donor, people cough Malcolm Turnbull cough played up a cryptoracist claim.