One Nation founder David Oldfield has joked the noose should be brought back for Labor senator Sam Dastyari, who is accused of having dubious connections with China.
However Mr Oldfield insisted he wasn’t advocating the death penalty for the Labor factional warrior, despite tweeting ‘bring back the noose – Sam will only need a little scaffold’.
The former New South Wales One Nation MP said his tweet was a reference to alleged treason, after it was reported that Senator Dastyari had warned a prominent Chinese political donor that his phone might be tapped.
‘Dastyari was verging on treason with regard to the tapped phones story,’ Mr Oldfield told Daily Mail Australia on Wednesday night.
David Oldfield (pictured with his Real Housewives of Sydney spouse Lisa Oldfield) joked that Labor senator Sam Dastyari deserved the noose for alleged treason
The One Nation co-founder insists he isn’t advocating the death penalty for Sam Dastyari
‘The punishment for which at one time was hanging – hence bring back the noose.
‘I went on to note the scaffold wouldn’t need to be very big – clearly pointing to Dastyari being short.
‘It was of course all a joke because after all, hanging would be too good for the little s***.’
Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull has called for Senator Dastyari to reveal his discussions with Huang Xiangmo, who has links to the Chinese Communist Party.
Foreign Minister Julie Bishop has gone further and demanded Senator Dastyari quit parliament, after The Sydney Morning Herald reported Senator Dastyari told Mr Huang they should leave their phones inside when they met at the businessman’s Sydney mansion in October last year.
Senator Sam Dastyari has his mouth full dealing with questions about his links to China
The ABC has also released a new recording of Senator Dastyari contradicting Labor’s policy over the South China Sea by suggesting Australia should stay out of any territorial dispute with Japan.
‘As a supporter of China and a friend of China, the Australian Labor Party needs to play an important role in maintaining that relationship,’ he told Chinese media last year.
‘And the best way of maintaining that relationship is knowing when it is and isn’t our place to be involved.’
Opposition Leader Bill Shorten, who has put Senator Dastyari on notice, reportedly called intelligence officials at the Australian Security and Intelligence Organisation to check if his Labor right-faction ally was a national security concern, the Daily Telegraph reports.
However, Mr Shorten was told Senator Dastyari wasn’t a security risk, the article said.
Labor leader Bill Shorten reportedly asked ASIO if Sam Dastyari was a national security risk
Senator Dastyari, a former New South Wales Labor general security, quit the Opposition frontbench last year after it was revealed he accepted $1670 from a Chinese government-linked company, Top Education, to pay an office bill.
Mr Oldfield, a former friend of One Nation leader Pauline Hanson, said the Australian Federal Police and ASIO needed to investigate Senator Dastyari’s Chinese links.
‘If they can prove he’s broken any laws, he should be removed through appropriate legal means,’ he told Daily Mail Australia.
‘Instead of calling for his resignation, they should be launching a high-level Federal Police and ASIO investigation – anything else is bulls***.’
Daily Mail Australia contacted Senator Dastyari for comment on Wednesday night.
The federal government abolished the death penalty for treason in 1973, but it was still an offence under NSW law until 1985.