Zhu Minshen's 2015 donation to Labor remains a mystery - but Attorney General NSW Mark Speakman does not see this as an obstacle to Zhu's power to decide if law grads are fit and proper for admission to practise law in Australia

by Ganesh Sahathevan

        A few other Australians can be spotted in footage of the event, which was attended by Xi Jinping and Politburo Standing Committee Member Wang Yang. Here is Zhu Minshen, who famously paid Sam Dastyari's travel bill, shaking hands with Papa Xi 4/

3:59 PM · May 31, 2019·@alexjoskeChina-HK protest on Australian campuses but not at Minshen Zhu controlled campuses-Are legal profession admission rules being used (again ) to suppress complaints and protests

As reported previously, the circumstances that led to Zhu Minshen being granted a license to issue law degrees:

NSW Libs received donations of $44,275 from TOP Education Group just before & after TOP was granted the "first & only" license issued a private company to award law degrees: AG Speakman and his LPAB refuse to disclose all details in the LPAB Annual Reports

And then, the circumstances surrounding the recent renewal of that license: 

"The fishy smell around Zhu Minshen's Top Education Institute": Clive Hamilton's "Silent Invasion" raises questions for NSW AG Mark Speakman & the LPAB

Zhu remains a part of the NSW and Australian legal establishment as a result of his "very unique" law school. He retains the power conferred by law to decide which of his graduates is fit and proper for admission to practise law in NSW, and Australia.

Meanwhile, issues such as this remain unresolved, and will continue to remain unresolved for so long as the Chairman Of the LPAB, the Chief Justice NSW Tom Bathurst and the minister in charge, the Attorney General NSW Mark Speakman maintain their silence on these issues.

TO BE READ WITH 

Sam Dastyari patron gave $2,000 for Labor candidate he has never met



By Sean Nicholls
Updated September 12, 2016 — 3.55pm

first published at 3.24pm


The businessman at the centre of the political furore over Senator Sam Dastyari wrote a cheque for $2000 to a Labor candidate at last year's state election who he has never met.

Kogarah MP Chris Minns says he has no idea how the businessman, Top Education Group chief Minshen Zhu, came to nominate his campaign on the cheque, written on March 17 last year.

The organiser of the Chinese Friends of Labor event for which donation was made, Labor MLC Ernest Wong, has previously said he has "no knowledge" of the donation.

But on Monday he said: "I suggest to members of the Chinese community that if they want to support Labor then they should do so in areas where there is a large number of Chinese people living there."

"Chinese people make up about 40 per cent of Kogarah. The cheque was never cashed."

Kogarah has the highest percentage of people of Chinese descent in Australia - a fact noted by Mr Minns in his inaugural speech a month after the cheque was written, during which he called for mandatory Mandarin lessons for NSW schoolchildren.
Senator Dastyari last week quit the opposition front bench over his declaration to parliament that at his request Top Education had paid a $1670 overspend in his office travel entitlement.

The following day Fairfax Media reported that the whereabouts of the $2000 cheque remained a mystery more than a year after it was written.

Election funding records shows the donation was for the annual Chinese Friends of Labor event held at The Eight restaurant in Sydney's Chinatown four days earlier and attended by more than 600 guests.

However, a return lodged with the NSW Electoral Commission by Top Education states: "Cheque received by ALP but hasn't been banked yet."

The cheque was never received by the party office and Top Education has declined to comment.

But Mr Minns has since revealed the cheque was received by his office.

He said it was never cashed it as it was not accompanied with a form stating that Dr Zhu and Top Education were entitled to donate to NSW election campaigns.

"When my campaign received the cheque in March 2015 it did not have the required documentation to ensure it came from an eligible donor," Mr Minns said.


"In the absence of that we decided to err on the side of caution and not process the donation."

The $2000 Top Education donation to NSW Labor that 'vanished'

However, election funding records show NSW Labor accepted a $1000 donation from Top Education on April 17 tied to a fundraiser hosted by Senator Dastyari at Sydney's Chinatown restaurant.

Senator Dastyari has said there is no link between the cheque and the payment of his travel debt.