Post by Deleted on Feb 19, 2016 12:16:25 GMT 7
Gift Rolex watches to three senior Liberal politicians might have been bugged
Former Defence minister Joel Fitzgibbon says it is "absolutely possible" Rolex watches gifted to Tony Abbott, Stuart Robert and Ian Macfarlane by a Chinese businessman were bugged. Intelligence sources are concerned about Chinese intelligence agencies targeting Australian MPs and want all items offered as gifts checked for bugs, Fairfax Media reports. Mr Fitzgibbon confirmed today any gifts he received were sent to the Defence Signals Directorate, now the Australian Signals Directorate, for X-raying. "Anyone in a senior position should do the same in the interests of national security," Mr Fitzgibbon said.
However, spokespeople for Mr Robert and Mr Macfarlane admitted the watches were not submitted for any sort of testing. Mr Abbott's office declined to comment, according to Fairfax. The Rolex watches were gifted to the three politicians by Chinese billionaire Li Ruipeng in June 2013.
Despite parliamentary rules stating MPs who receive gifts from non-official sources must declare them within 28 days, none of the trio did; all three men claimed they thought the watches were fake "because they all came out of a paper bag."
www.msn.com/en-au/news/australia/gift-rolex-watches-to-three-senior-liberal-politicians-might-have-been-bugged/ar-BBpEjDY
Former Defence minister Joel Fitzgibbon says it is "absolutely possible" Rolex watches gifted to Tony Abbott, Stuart Robert and Ian Macfarlane by a Chinese businessman were bugged. Intelligence sources are concerned about Chinese intelligence agencies targeting Australian MPs and want all items offered as gifts checked for bugs, Fairfax Media reports. Mr Fitzgibbon confirmed today any gifts he received were sent to the Defence Signals Directorate, now the Australian Signals Directorate, for X-raying. "Anyone in a senior position should do the same in the interests of national security," Mr Fitzgibbon said.
However, spokespeople for Mr Robert and Mr Macfarlane admitted the watches were not submitted for any sort of testing. Mr Abbott's office declined to comment, according to Fairfax. The Rolex watches were gifted to the three politicians by Chinese billionaire Li Ruipeng in June 2013.
Despite parliamentary rules stating MPs who receive gifts from non-official sources must declare them within 28 days, none of the trio did; all three men claimed they thought the watches were fake "because they all came out of a paper bag."
www.msn.com/en-au/news/australia/gift-rolex-watches-to-three-senior-liberal-politicians-might-have-been-bugged/ar-BBpEjDY
