Victorian MP David Limbrick has heavily criticised a program by Australia’s national broadcaster for being used by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) to further the oppression of a spiritual group in China.
The comments were made in support of a motion put forward by MP Adem Somyurek, which included an invitation for the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation (ASIO) to brief state MPs on the advanced tactics used by foreign agents to enlist Australian members of Parliament.
“State MPs do not receive any confidential briefings on national security. We just do not get classified information,” Mr. Somyurek said.
Australian Broadcasting Corporation Ignores Pleas
In response, Mr. Limbrick shared a story to illustrate how government and politicians at all levels needed support to understand the methods used by authoritarian regimes when trying to undermine the local authorities.
Mr. Limbrick said the letter was “effectively begging” ABC not to broadcast a documentary on Falun Gong due to concerns that it would be used to further the persecution of their friends and family back in China as well as spread misinformation about the practice.
“The idea that Australian taxpayer’s money would be used to produce material that would be used for religious persecution is one of the most outrageous things that I could imagine.
“The ABC ignored their pleas and broadcast it anyway. As it turned out, the Falun Gong [practitioners] were, in fact, entirely correct,” he said, recounting how the day after the documentary was broadcast, it had been translated and published onto a CCP-backed website tasked with spreading disinformation about the practice.
Falun Gong, also known as Falun Dafa, is a meditative practice rooted in spiritual teachings based on the core principles of truthfulness, compassion, and tolerance.
Initially supportive of the practice, with official estimates putting the number of practitioners at 100 million people, the CCP suddenly initiated a brutal persecution campaign against Falun Gong adherents on July 20, 1999—almost 25 years ago.
“I was outraged that our national broadcaster had [broadcasted] this despite being told what would happen. And exactly what Falun Gong said would happen did happen,” Mr. Limbrick said.
The Victorian MP revealed he had immediately lodged a formal complaint to the ABC and the Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA).
“The ABC investigated themselves and found they did nothing wrong. And ACMA said there was nothing wrong,” he said.
Labelled a ‘Traitor’ by the CCP
After Mr. Limbrick’s formal complaints to the ABC about the documentary were covered by media, the CCP’s website labelled him a “traitor” to Australia. This came as an immense shock to the parliamentarian.“I found myself on the [Chinese] communist party’s website, calling me a traitor to my country, which hurt more than anything that’s happened to me in Parliament,” he said.
“The reason that they called me a traitor is because I was defending the rights of a persecuted religious group and disagreeing with our state media.”
Mr. Limbrick emphasised that Australia needed to stand up to this type of regime on behalf of all Australians, particularly dissidents who now called the country home.
“These are the type of people that we’re dealing with, that try to infiltrate and influence our country,” he said.
“It’s a glaring omission that members of Parliament aren’t at least briefed on this sort of stuff by ASIO.”
