Sam Dastyari (born 28 July 1983) is an Australian former politician, who from 2013 to 2018 represented New South Wales in the Australian Senate as a member of the Australian Labor Party. Dastyari was previously General Secretary of the New South Wales branch of the Labor Party. He was the first person of Iranian origin and Azerbaijani descent to sit in the Australian Parliament. As a Senator, Dastyari was the subject of a Chinese-related donations scandal, which eventually led to his resignation from the Senate on 25 January 2018.
Early life and education
Born in Sari, Mazandaran Province, Iran to an ethnic Azerbaijani father and Mazanderani mother, Dastyari arrived in Australia at age four in January 1988. His parents were student activists in the 1979 Iranian revolution.
Dastyari attended John Purchase Public School in Cherrybrook, joined the Australian Labor Party at age sixteen and was vice-captain at Baulkham Hills High School. Dastyari dropped out of a Bachelor of Economics / Bachelor of Laws course at the University of Sydney due to being "so caught up in the movement and student politics". He went on to become President of Australian Young Labor and later studied part-time at Macquarie University, graduating with a Bachelor of Arts majoring in politics.
Political career (2010–2018)
Early career (2010–2013) In March 2010, Dastyari was elected as General Secretary of NSW Labor with the support of the Transport Workers' Union (TWU), the Electrical Trades Union (ETU), and the Australian Workers Union (AWU).
Australian Senate (2013–2018) On 21 August 2013, a joint sitting of the Parliament of New South Wales appointed Dastyari to the Senate seat vacated by Matt Thistlethwaite, who had resigned to contest a House of Representatives seat at the 2013 federal election.
Dastyari was an Iranian citizen at birth. He previously applied to renounce Iranian citizenship in order to take the "reasonable steps" required to comply with section 44 of the Constitution of Australia. Dastyari did not complete the compulsory military service required to renounce citizenship under Iranian law, but stated that the Iranian government's issuance of a tourist visa to him acknowledged that he was no longer an Iranian citizen.
In October 2015, the retirements of Bernie Ripoll and Jan McLucas from the shadow ministry caused a reshuffle, and Dastyari became Deputy Manager of Opposition Business in the Senate, Shadow Parliamentary Secretary to the Leader of the Opposition, and Shadow Parliamentary Secretary for School Education and Youth.
After Labor's defeat at the 2016 election, Dastyari was promoted to the shadow outer ministry becoming Manager of Opposition Business in the Senate, and spokesman for consumer affairs. Dastyari resigned from the positions following a scandal over payments and gifts from Chinese companies. He was later appointed Deputy Opposition Whip in the Senate. Dastyari formally submitted his resignation from the Senate on 25 January 2018.
Chinese influence scandal
In November 2014, Dastyari declared that a Chinese company with links to the Chinese government had provided him with $44,000 to settle his legal bills. In October 2015, Dastyari asked a Chinese private education provider with links to the Chinese government to pay a travel bill of $1,670. He declared both payments appropriately.
Dastyari spoke at Chinese-language press conferences and was at odds with the Australian government's policy on the South China Sea. Malcolm Turnbull, then Prime Minister, accused him of accepting money in exchange for supporting China in its South China Sea territorial disputes. The uproar over Dastyari's actions was seen by The Economist as a sign of the changing mood among Australians regarding Chinese investment. Initially, Dastyari attempted to defuse the situation by offering the money he had received to a charity; however, the charity refused to accept the donation. As a result of this controversy, on 7 September 2016 Dastyari resigned from his shadow frontbench position as Manager of Opposition Business and spokesman for consumer affairs, and returned to the backbench.