Former MP's Lobbying for Chinese Entities Raises Eyebrows
Former Liberal parliamentarian Pat Farmer has registered as a foreign agent representing Chinese government-owned entities, including a university with significant connections to China's military establishment. The ex-MP, who served in the Howard government and gained national prominence during the Voice referendum campaign, disclosed his new advisory roles through official transparency channels.
Mr Farmer registered his position as an adviser to China's Real Estate Investment Trusts last week. Just four days later, he filed additional paperwork revealing his representation of Central South University, located in China's Hunan province and directly supervised by China's Ministry of Education.
Security Concerns Over University's Defence Links
Security analysts have expressed serious concerns about Central South University's background. Fergus Ryan, senior analyst at the Australian Strategic Policy Institute, confirmed the institution maintains "unusually deep links to China's defence establishment."
"Our research shows CSU is jointly supervised by the Ministry of Education and SASTIND, the agency responsible for weapons and aerospace R&D, and that it holds a current weapons-production licence," Mr Ryan stated. "It also operates several national-defence laboratories working on advanced materials, propulsion and guidance technologies."
In his declaration, Mr Farmer stated he was engaged by the university to "help explore opportunities with the Australian government for Australian universities to set up offshore campuses in China." He specifically mentioned plans to meet with the federal Minister for Education to propose potential options.
However, a spokesperson for Education Minister Jason Clare clarified that "the minister has not met with him about this matter. He also does not have any meetings scheduled with him."
Pattern of Former Politicians Working for Chinese Interests
Mr Farmer joins a growing list of former Australian politicians who have taken up roles with Chinese entities after leaving public office. The trend includes former Coalition trade minister Andrew Robb, who accepted an $880,000 consultancy role with the Chinese company operating the Port of Darwin shortly after leaving parliament in 2019.
In 2011, both former Liberal foreign minister Alexander Downer and former Labor premier of Victoria John Brumby took positions with Chinese telecommunications giant Huawei after retiring from politics.
There is no suggestion that Mr Farmer, who left federal politics in 2010, has breached any codes of conduct or engaged in wrongdoing. The Foreign Influence Transparency Scheme, introduced in 2018, requires such relationships to be disclosed to provide visibility of foreign sources seeking to influence Australian government processes.
Mr Farmer did not respond to questions from The Canberra Times about the nature of his lobbying activities. According to his Instagram, he toured an international seaport in Tangshan during a China trip in March and currently resides with his wife at Copacabana on the NSW Central Coast.
In a recent podcast appearance, the former MP expressed interest in running across China with a film crew to "showcase that place to the world, especially to Australian TV, how beautiful it is, what it's really like inside China."
