‘I attend lots of functions’: Albanese defensive over exclusive fundraising dinner

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has defended attending private fundraising functions with wealthy donors after it was revealed he dined with a businessman whose father was accused of deceiving authorities to funnel money from China into Australian bank accounts.After presiding over a remarkably disciplined Labour national conference, where a rare debate emerged over telehealth consultations for patients considering euthanasia, Albanese said he believed those wanting to end their lives should be required to meet a doctor in person before making the decision.Anthony Albanese, Felix Lee, the menu from the dinner and Daniel Andrews.Artwork: Monique WestermannAlbanese said that when he next speaks to Donald Trump, he would also personally raise his opposition to the US president’s decision to impose a 12.5 per cent tariff on some Australian exports.Before flying to Adelaide for Labor’s national conference, Albanese attended an exclusive dinner on Monday night at the family mansion of Felix Lee in Point Piper, in Sydney’s eastern suburbs, with attendees expected to donate about $10,000 a head to the Labor Party.This masthead revealed last week that a damning 189-page Australian Taxation Office affidavit detailed suspicions that Lee’s father Phillip used dishonest means to move vast sums of money from China to Australia over several years to fund his Australian business, property and gambling activities.“I attend lots of functions,” Albanese told the ABC’s Insiders on Sunday in his first public comments on the issue since the story broke.“I attend lots of dinners in lots of places, and I don’t talk about private dinners. I’ve held a number this week here in Adelaide as well.”Albanese at first appeared reluctant to confirm he attended the dinner in question, repeating that he attends many functions in the course of his job.He suggested it was unrealistic to expect he would know details about the relatives of potential donors with whom he meets.One of the guests at the dinner told this masthead that One Nation leader Pauline Hanson was discussed at the event as well as “the state of the world, politics, the ALP conference”.Commonwealth Bank CEO Matt Comyn.Dominic LorrimerCommonwealth Bank boss Matt Comyn attended the event, as did former Victorian premier Dan Andrews.Asked whether he was concerned by the Tax Office’s accusations against Phillip Lee, Albanese said that “I’m not aware of those issues” and added: “He wasn’t there, he wasn’t there.”“We declare all of our donations in accordance with the rules, we’re transparent about it,” he said.“I do attend a lot of events, and you know that that is part of the process that occurs engaging with people.”Delegates at Labor’s national conference voted to amend the party’s draft platform to include support for a conscience vote on expanding the accessibility of end-of-life care to give more options to patients in regional and remote areas.Australia currently bans people from using telehealth for voluntary assisted dying consultations, with doctors facing fines of up to $300,000 for discussing the matter via phone or video.While saying he respected their different views on the topic, Albanese said he was worried about the “potential for misuse” of telehealth consultations on assisted dying.Albanese said he supported voluntary euthanasia but said: “It’s also important that protections be placed around it.”Prime Minister Anthony Albanese at the 50th Australian Labor Party Conference in Adelaide last week.Dominic Lorrimer“Now, if someone has a heart attack or an acute health condition they need a doctor. They can’t do that over telehealth, and I think that someone ending their life is just as important,” he said.“I think that it should be face-to-face recognition and face-to-face engagement because otherwise, from my perspective, what that would do as well is undermine voluntary assisted dying.”Albanese said he would “absolutely” raise his opposition to new US tariffs on Australian exports when he next speaks to Trump, labelling the impost “unjustified”.The US has imposed tariffs between 10 and 12.5 per cent on dozens of countries on the grounds they are not doing enough to prevent the use of forced labour in their supply chains.“We’ll raise it at every level of the Australia-US relationship,” Albanese said.“We have very strong provisions on modern slavery. We’re strengthening those even further by going through the supply chain issues, and making sure that indeed substantial fines and penalties can be paid if those issues aren’t dealt with.”Cut through the noise of federal politics with news, views and expert analysis. Subscribers can sign up to our weekly Inside Politics newsletter.Matthew Knott is the foreign affairs and national security correspondent for The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age.Connect via X, Facebook or email.From our partners