I think that you are all being mean, what he poor bloke needs is some moral support and a rise in pay; obviously his expense account didn't cover the amount that he owed and he had to fund it another way.

Dastyari showed initiative in bludging off someone for the dosh, sure;y no one expected him to pay a private expense with his own money?

With the greatest respect, I think some commenters here are missing the point: yes, Barry O'Farrell may have stood down as NSW Premier over a single bottle of wine, while Chine companies with close ties to the Communist Party pay Dastyari's $ 40,000 and $ 1670 bills. Common or garden corruption. Yours is bigger than mine.

But Dastyari then spruiks for the Chinese Government over its aggression in the South China Sea, and flouting of international guidelines on the building of structures on reefs and shoals [structures ?! Military bases ? Airfields ? Naval bases ?] and claims all the enclosed waters its own.

How many reefs and shoals are there around the world ? A million ? How easy it would be for, say, the Yanks to get busy setting up a thousand naval bases around the world on shoals near the coastline of other countries ? Then claim the waters between them and the US as its own ?

Example: it's now forgotten but New Zealand used to be administered from New South wales. Al those reefs and shoals around New Zealand were once part of our beloved homeland. And now the New Zealanders are despoiling them, polluting the waterways - OUR historic waterways - and neglecting their potential. If the Australian government had the courage to decide to rehabilitate what was once clearly ours, lands and seas that we still dearly love, and perhaps build 'research stations' on some of those shoals, what would be wrong with that ? And claim the whole of the Tasman Sea as our own domestic, internal waterway into the bargain ? Clearly, the New Zealanders don't intend to do anything constructive with those shoals, OUR shoals, or the Tasman Sea, so why not take them back ?

All bullsh!t of course, but that's the logic that Dastyari seems to be ready to prostitute himself for.

Joe

Politicians by and by are nothing more than rats in Armani suits. Depending on the 'weave and colour' of the material that each suit is made from, will determine if the wearer is a Labor, Liberal, Green or other variety of rat.

Another factor is the amount of money they can siphon, divert, collect or launder through various means. Did we not hear a mention of Malcolm Turnbull's name in the so called Panama Papers recently...what happened there ? Where did the question of Tony Abbott's "UK Citizenship" go ?

Sure, what Dastardly Sam has been caught out on is very dodgy...quite possibly unconstitutional, but what about the last 20 or so years of "donations" for every other rat at local council level, developers influencing planning re-zones, state parliamentarians getting sweeteners from mining companies (Adani & Halliburton in Qld) etc ? Where did all the $Zillions go from the mining boom ?

Keep voting for these rats and you will certainly wake up post election day with a rat nest to deal with. Otherwise, keep postulating, hypothesising, and moaning year and year out, or wake up and exercise your constitutional right by expressing your will in a letter to your local, state & federal representative.

See: http://www.peoplesmandate.iinet.net.au/your_will_be_done.pdf

Ratyari (thanks, Albie) was only allowed on the opposition front bench if he agreed not to get front bench pay. Some deal they did to ensure that the far left senator Carr ('saviour' of the car industry) got back into the senate. Perhaps Ratyari thought that his agreement entitled him to pick up a few bob on the side - as good a theory as any, seeing we will never know the truth, which would be sure to redden the cheeks of all politicians.

Where Dastyari is concerned it goes beyond obvious, cheap political corruption.

<Dastyari does not deny that he told a news conference for Chinese media that Australia should leave China to its own devices in the disputed territory of the South China Sea. He no longer repeats the “dog ate my homework” claims of being misquoted that he had pushed out earlier via favoured journalists.

Examination of his Senate committee appearances shows he has been deliberately exploring the delicate strategic fissures of Chinese expansionism in the South China Sea, the US alliance, international law and our relationship with Japan. His questioning of Defence secretary Dennis Richardson and former Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade secretary Peter Varghese has been naive and clumsy at best, mischievous and subver­sive at worst. His lines certainly didn’t serve Labor’s policy interests or the ­nation’s but would have pleased people (in places such as Beijing) keen to see a change in posture from Australia. In 2014 an agitated Richardson urged Dastyari to “read the ANZUS Treaty” and defence minister David Johnston said the senator’s questions were “not in our national ­interest”. Last year a similar ­exchange with Varghese met with similar resistance.

Dastyari was playing with serious issues involving freedom of navigation for most of this ­nation’s resources exports, competing claims of sovereignty in East Asia, potential military flashpoints, our alliance obligations under ANZUS and our continuing trade and strategic relationships with China, Japan and other ­regional players. Why? There is nothing in his background to suggest interest in foreign ­affairs. His short but steep career previously showed little aptitude for anything other than factional deals, campaigning, political fundraising and media stunts.

Yet the man who has just ­resigned as consumer affairs spokesman has been meddling with Labor’s bipartisan support for regional stability, the rule of law and the US alliance as expressed through our stand on the South China Sea. Why?>
[The Australian]

The man is a traitor.
He was and is acting against the sovereign policies of Australia.
He needs to be removed from the parliament.
His bosses surely must see his treachery.
Or does he hold some private sway over them.
This bloke who avowedly hates Australia is still allowed
to sit in parliament and make decisions that affect us all.
Bring on the revolution.