SYDNEY - Australia has formally named China in a court document as the foreign state under investigation by police in the nation's first foreign interference investigation.
The Australian Federal Police and the Australian Security and Intelligence Organisation have refused to comment on whether a raid on the offices of a New South Wales state politician and his staffer on June 26 was related to China, although it was widely believed to be. Mr John Zhang, who worked for NSW Labor politician Shaoquett Moselmane, has asked the High Court to quash the search warrants used to search his home, business and Mr Moselmane's parliament office.
In the government's response on Sept 1, the government solicitor states there is"no doubt that the suspected offences related to the plaintiff's dealings with the Hon Shaoquett Moselmane MLC, allegedly on behalf of the People's Republic of China , from about 1 July 2019 to about 25 June 2020, in order to advance the interests and policy goals of the PRC".