This archive report was first published on 25 November 2019.
On November 24, 2019, the Australian Broadcasting Corporation's "60 Minutes" program aired explosive allegations that suspected Chinese operatives had offered Bo "Nick" Zhao Aus$1 million ($679,000) to run as a candidate in a federal seat in Melbourne.
According to the report, Zhao, a 32-year-old luxury car dealer, had disclosed the alleged approach to the Australia Security Intelligence Organisation (ASIO) last year before his death in a motel room in March.
ASIO head Mike Burgess released a rare public statement, confirming that the agency was "previously aware of the matters" and had been "actively investigating them".
Burgess declined to comment further, citing the ongoing inquest into Zhao's death.
"Hostile foreign intelligence activity continues to pose a real threat to our nation and its security," Burgess said.
Parliamentary intelligence committee chief Andrew Hastie described the alleged episode as "surreal" and "like something out of a spy novel".
"This isn't just cash in a bag, given for favours, this is a state-sponsored attempt to infiltrate our parliament using an Australian citizen and basically run them as an agent of foreign influence in our democratic system," Hastie told 60 Minutes.
"So this is really significant and Australians should be very, very concerned about this," he added.
