Latest / The Morning Edition / The prime minister, a billionaire’s son and a dinner at a Point Piper mansion

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The prime minister, a billionaire’s son and a dinner at a Point Piper mansion · The Morning Edition

• 0:05
  S1: The Labour Party is facing fresh scrutiny about where it
• 0:08
  S1: gets its money. Five days ago, it was the result
• 0:11
  S1: of revelations that the party collected more than $4 million
• 0:15
  S1: in gambling donations in five years, a chunk of that
• 0:19
  S1: while it dithered on gambling reform and then backed down
• 0:22
  S1: from a full crackdown on betting advertising. And now another
• 0:26
  S1: donation that has raised eyebrows. I'm Samantha Selinger Morris, and
• 0:31
  S1: you're listening to Morning Edition from The Age and The
• 0:34
  S1: Sydney Morning Herald today, investigative reporter Lucy Macken on the
• 0:38
  S1: billionaire's son, who allegedly offered to donate money to the
• 0:41
  S1: Labour Party during a function attended by Prime Minister Anthony
• 0:45
  S1: Albanese and why it's under question. It's July the 27th. Lucy,
• 0:51
  S1: welcome back to the podcast.
• 0:53
  S2: Hi, Sam.
• 0:54
  S1: Okay. Last Monday, Anthony Albanese's prime ministerial limousine rolled through
• 0:59
  S1: the gates of the Sydney residence of a 25 year
• 1:02
  S1: old man named Felix Lee. And most of us have
• 1:06
  S1: never heard of this man, I imagine. But ever since
• 1:08
  S1: it's been the subject of massive newspaper pieces, some screaming headlines.
• 1:13
  S1: What was going on at that house? Lucy?
• 1:14
  S2: Well, what was Mr. Albanese thinking? Actually. But.
• 1:19
  S1: Well, do tell.
• 1:22
  S2: You'd have to ask him. Get him on the podcast.
• 1:24
  S1: Okay. I'm going to try to.
• 1:26
  S2: But really, what was happening was some sort of donor event.
• 1:30
  S2: You know, a handful or half a dozen of really
• 1:34
  S2: serious business leaders were in attendance. So was Mr. Albanese.
• 1:37
  S2: The big question mark is of the donation that was
• 1:41
  S2: made to ALP coffers. You know, was it $1 million?
• 1:45
  S2: Was it much less than that? But more importantly for
• 1:48
  S2: our efforts, I mean, it raises the question of where
• 1:51
  S2: is the money, the Lee family money coming from? And
• 1:54
  S2: I don't think, you know, I don't know many 25
• 1:57
  S2: year olds who run a sort of $2 billion investment
• 2:01
  S2: fund out of their family office. I have to confess,
• 2:04
  S2: I was not doing that at 25. I was still
• 2:07
  S2: I was in the Herald office. So so the question comes, though, Felix,
• 2:12
  S2: you know, to his credit, has has gone to great
• 2:14
  S2: lengths to set himself up as a young businessman, you know,
• 2:18
  S2: albeit from family wealth, but at great lengths to distinguish
• 2:21
  S2: himself from his father. Now, his father might be more
• 2:24
  S2: well known to Sydneysiders. Philip Dongfang Li. I've been acquainted
• 2:29
  S2: with Philip Dongfang Li since he bought his Point Piper
• 2:33
  S2: Trophy home, the one with the beautiful sandstone gates and
• 2:36
  S2: the European villa style, you know, fascia that looks over
• 2:39
  S2: Sydney Harbour, a stunning views. He bought that in 2015
• 2:43
  S2: for just shy. A bit of coinage shy of $40 million.
• 2:46
  S2: It was a non-waterfront record for that year. Yada yada yada.
• 2:51
  S2: It seemed like a lot of money at the time,
• 2:53
  S2: but of course, right behind it is a property called
• 2:55
  S2: Uig Lodge, which tech bro Scott Farquhar lives in and
• 2:59
  S2: he bought for $130 million cash. So, you know, all
• 3:02
  S2: things in perspective, I guess. But more pertinently for Mandalay,
• 3:05
  S2: it is actually the home of Philip Lee and his wife,
• 3:08
  S2: Xiao Bashi. And Felix lives in the Art Deco apartments
• 3:12
  S2: next door. But if you're going to host the prime
• 3:15
  S2: Minister for dinner and Mum and Dad have a house
• 3:17
  S2: like that, you're going to go next door for it. Now,
• 3:19
  S2: as I understand it, it remains unknown if Philip Lee
• 3:23
  S2: was in attendance. But there's a simple level is where
• 3:26
  S2: is this money that is going into ALP coffers coming from?
• 3:30
  S2: And better yet, where is the money, the Lee family
• 3:32
  S2: money coming from? And what we have is this I'm sure,
• 3:37
  S2: very qualified, very successful, very intelligent 25 year old who
• 3:41
  S2: the message I'm being given from all quarters is that
• 3:44
  S2: his grandmother, his paternal grandmother, Philip Lee's money is funding him.
• 3:49
  S1: Okay, well, let's get into this because you raised at
• 3:52
  S1: the very top. Okay. Why was Anthony Albanese there as
• 3:55
  S1: though there might be something wrong with that. But for
• 3:57
  S1: those who are listening, they're going, okay, so he's been
• 3:59
  S1: offered a donation. The Financial Review has reported it's $1 million,
• 4:03
  S1: but government sources are telling us that it's drastically lower.
• 4:07
  S1: And the Prime minister, he's at this dinner, it's at
• 4:09
  S1: an illustrious mansion. This family has a lot of money.
• 4:12
  S1: So listeners might be thinking, okay, what's the problem with that?
• 4:15
  S1: But you and our colleague Nick McKenzie, you know a
• 4:18
  S1: little bit more about the family and their wealth, and
• 4:21
  S1: particularly about Felix Lee's father, Philip. So tell us about that.
• 4:25
  S2: Yeah. Look, Philip Lee became the subject of more headlines,
• 4:29
  S2: not just for his property, but because he was a
• 4:32
  S2: star witness in the 2002 Star City Casino inquiry, public
• 4:37
  S2: inquiry into Star City's right to have a licence. And
• 4:40
  S2: in it, the revelations were extraordinary, you know, the extent
• 4:43
  S2: of his gambling. But it also it also raised questions
• 4:48
  S2: as to why, you know, more than $100 million has
• 4:51
  S2: been funnelled over years through the casino for Mr. Lee.
• 4:55
  S2: In the background to that, the tax office, unbeknownst to
• 4:59
  S2: me at the time, was undertaking an audit of Mr.
• 5:02
  S2: Lee's financials. You know, on a very sort of outside
• 5:06
  S2: looking in perspective, Mr. Lee, he doesn't work in Sydney.
• 5:10
  S2: He's a businessman. So, you know, there's no wage that
• 5:13
  S2: I can see that he's going off to. And yet
• 5:14
  S2: he's extraordinarily rich. You know, there are houses in Bellevue
• 5:18
  S2: Hill and Chatswood and investments and and, you know, all
• 5:21
  S2: of this property in the Mid North Coast, a huge
• 5:23
  S2: amount of rural and bushland. So the question has become,
• 5:27
  S2: where is this money coming from? Felix Lee maintains it's
• 5:30
  S2: coming from his paternal grandmother and has nothing to do
• 5:33
  S2: with his dad, and therefore nothing to do with the
• 5:36
  S2: dubious funnelling of money through the Star City Casino.
• 5:41
  S1: Detail that to us detail what the allegations are that
• 5:44
  S1: that result from this previously confidential, as I understand it,
• 5:48
  S1: affidavit that was prepared by the Australian Tax Office in 2021.
• 5:52
  S1: Our masthead spent months trying to get their hands on this, essentially,
• 5:56
  S1: and I understand from this that tell me if I'm right.
• 5:59
  S1: Chief among the allegations are details about, quote, sham arrangements, unquote,
• 6:05
  S1: whereby purported loans from Phillips 92 year old mother, friends
• 6:09
  S1: and business associates were designed to conceal the true source
• 6:12
  S1: and character of the foreign income. So what does this
• 6:15
  S1: all mean? You know, why is this so bad, Lucy?
• 6:17
  S1: If it is.
• 6:18
  S2: Well, if it's a loan, it's arguably most usually it
• 6:22
  S2: is that it's it's not taxed as income. It's a loan.
• 6:26
  S2: You're going to be paying it back. So. Right. Most
• 6:29
  S2: of these transfers of money from Chinese accounts into Philip
• 6:32
  S2: Lee's family's accounts were purported to be loans. But when
• 6:37
  S2: the tax office went through and had a look at
• 6:38
  S2: some of these loans, they actually dispute that they are loans.
• 6:42
  S2: And in fact, they just say that this is a sham,
• 6:45
  S2: as you say, the sham arrangement.
• 6:46
  S1: So so just just to translate this, for those of
• 6:49
  S1: us who aren't familiar with moving money from country to country.
• 6:52
  S1: So essentially, the allegation is that the Lee family's wealth was,
• 6:56
  S1: I guess, partly created via a scheme that effectively moves
• 6:59
  S1: money into Australia from China. It's purported to be loans.
• 7:04
  S1: The Australian Tax Office questions whether they're loans. And as
• 7:07
  S1: I understand it, there's no suggestion by this masthead that
• 7:10
  S1: the allegations are true, only that they've been made. Is
• 7:12
  S1: that right?
• 7:13
  S2: That's right, that's right. So in some of the loans,
• 7:15
  S2: for example, a $25 million so-called loan from Philip's mother
• 7:20
  S2: in China, it was executed, you know, signed in Shanghai
• 7:24
  S2: and witnessed by Philip's sister. But as the tax office claims,
• 7:28
  S2: his sister was in Australia at the time, it's very
• 7:30
  S2: difficult to sign documents at that time. You know, DocuSign
• 7:33
  S2: wasn't a thing.
• 7:34
  S1: Okay. So we've got this information about these alleged loans
• 7:38
  S1: that the tax office. It seems to be suggesting might
• 7:42
  S1: not be loans to Phillip Lee from his elderly mother.
• 7:45
  S1: What relationship is there between those loans and Philip's son,
• 7:49
  S1: Felix Lee, who has allegedly then made this donation to
• 7:53
  S1: Anthony Albanese.
• 7:54
  S2: Well, look, Felix has separated himself out from his dad's
• 7:57
  S2: business and to all intents and purposes, as far as
• 8:00
  S2: anyone could see, that is certainly happening. He's best known
• 8:02
  S2: for having the former treasurer of Australia, Joe Hockey, as
• 8:05
  S2: the chairman of his Lee family office, you know, which
• 8:09
  S2: is fairly reputable, I guess. But the issues that are
• 8:12
  S2: raised in this is that Felix is Phillips son. He
• 8:17
  S2: was raised here and he lives, you know, next door
• 8:20
  S2: to his parents in the details that the ATO have itemised.
• 8:24
  S2: When he was younger, the funds that were brought out
• 8:27
  S2: to Australia via his grandmother, Felix's grandmother, were actually moved
• 8:33
  S2: into his account to pay for some of the property
• 8:36
  S2: in Sydney. So, for example, there was a Der opera
• 8:41
  S2: purchased in Bellevue Hill, and the funds for that were
• 8:45
  S2: transferred from Philip's grandmother into Felix's bank account to pay
• 8:51
  S2: for the property. Of course, it wasn't such a great
• 8:53
  S2: deal for Felix, because when it was sold a few
• 8:56
  S2: years later, the $12 million, the vast majority of that
• 8:59
  S2: went into Philip's bank account. More recently, there's a sort
• 9:03
  S2: of pine plantation up on the mid-north coast now that
• 9:06
  S2: was bought using funds from his younger brother Edward's bank account.
• 9:10
  S2: I think he was 10 or 12 at the time,
• 9:12
  S2: certainly not old enough to be, you know, walking around
• 9:14
  S2: with $22 million. But that was used to buy it
• 9:18
  S2: for $22 million. Now, it was held by Philip and
• 9:21
  S2: his wife in their various corporate entities until last month,
• 9:25
  S2: when the property was transferred to Felix's Li family office.
• 9:29
  S2: So if nothing else, these sort of significant properties have
• 9:34
  S2: transferred from father to son on our paper trail.
• 9:44
  S1: After the break.
• 9:46
  S2: Does it by influence, you know, is there not good
• 9:49
  S2: reason why Anthony Albanese took time out from his life
• 9:53
  S2: to go to Point Piper and to have this dinner?
• 10:04
  S1: Okay. So we've got these allegations about, I guess, ways
• 10:08
  S1: in which the Lee family have made their money. And
• 10:11
  S1: I've got to say here, the Ato's allegations have led
• 10:13
  S1: to no criminal charges. Absolutely. They've never been tested in
• 10:16
  S1: any court. After the ATO and Phillip Lee reached a
• 10:19
  S1: settlement that included paying back part of the tax liability.
• 10:22
  S1: So I've got to got to set that straight. But
• 10:25
  S1: I guess with all of this in mind, why could
• 10:27
  S1: a donation to the Labor Party possibly be a concern?
• 10:30
  S2: Well, it depends on what sort of influence it takes
• 10:33
  S2: with it. Well, we've been raising a storm too recently
• 10:37
  S2: when Gina Rinehart gifted a private jet to Pauline Hanson
• 10:40
  S2: to go around the country and talk. But does it
• 10:43
  S2: by influence, you know, is there not good reason why
• 10:47
  S2: Anthony Albanese took time out from his life to go
• 10:50
  S2: to Point Piper and to have this dinner? I mean,
• 10:53
  S2: it's about raising these questions and I think a little
• 10:55
  S2: bit more clarity and oversight or transparency about this is
• 10:59
  S2: what's needed.
• 11:01
  S1: I guess, further to that, does it possibly raise questions
• 11:04
  S1: about alleged foreign interference or, I guess more broadly, questions
• 11:08
  S1: about whether politicians should be more careful about where money
• 11:12
  S1: comes from?
• 11:12
  S2: Look, the foreign interference question was raised with another billionaire,
• 11:17
  S2: Huang Xiangmo, in Mosman. But his interests. I think this
• 11:22
  S2: is different. I think this is different. The fact is
• 11:25
  S2: Philip Lee doesn't go back to China. He doesn't base
• 11:27
  S2: himself there. He's based in Sydney. He's an Australian, has
• 11:31
  S2: been for 28 years. So I think it's a little
• 11:34
  S2: bit different. It's more a question of the influence that
• 11:37
  S2: is coming with this money from Felix. And I think,
• 11:40
  S2: you know, Felix is trying to set himself up and
• 11:42
  S2: establish his name. That's great. But I think that the
• 11:46
  S2: issue is, is where are these funds coming from that
• 11:49
  S2: are buying such influence? If they are.
• 11:51
  S1: And so, I guess, tell us a bit more about
• 11:53
  S1: Felix Lee and about the Lee family. You know, what
• 11:56
  S1: sort of influence could they be wanting perhaps? Are there certain,
• 12:00
  S1: you know, matters in which they might want to have influence?
• 12:03
  S2: Well, I don't know. When Mr. Albanese visited the house,
• 12:06
  S2: he probably didn't check title records on the way through.
• 12:10
  S2: It's sort of the only thing I would do. I
• 12:12
  S2: think I'm the only human in the world who would.
• 12:14
  S2: But if he had, he might have noticed the mortgage
• 12:17
  S2: on title. It was held by his own tax department as.
• 12:21
  S2: As security for the tax dispute that's been playing out
• 12:24
  S2: between Phillip Lee and the Tax Office. That dispute has
• 12:27
  S2: since settled. And while Phillip Lee's properties, including this House,
• 12:31
  S2: were frozen a few years ago, those freeze orders have
• 12:35
  S2: been discharged and there is a settlement of sorts over
• 12:38
  S2: the tax dispute. It's just not known how much they
• 12:41
  S2: have settled that a bank account for. But the fact
• 12:44
  S2: remains that the ATO remains in control of Philip Lea's
• 12:48
  S2: property empire and his wife's property empire, and so. Does
• 12:52
  S2: he need any help with that, I don't know. Is
• 12:55
  S2: he hoping for a little bit of. I don't know. Look,
• 12:58
  S2: to be honest, he's a very private and reclusive businessman. He.
• 13:02
  S2: I'm yet to get an answer to a call or
• 13:04
  S2: a text. And it's been a decade.
• 13:06
  S1: Okay. And I do want to ask, though, you know,
• 13:08
  S1: if it took our mastheads months of fighting with the
• 13:12
  S1: courts to release these previously secret affidavits, which do sort of,
• 13:16
  S1: I guess, lift the lid off a bit of mystique
• 13:19
  S1: which has surrounded, as I understand it, Philip Lea's financial dealings.
• 13:22
  S1: Like you say, he's a private businessman. Could our Prime
• 13:25
  S1: Minister have reasonably known before attending this lavish dinner party
• 13:29
  S1: about the allegations against Felix Lees father?
• 13:33
  S2: Look, I don't think it's reasonable necessarily. I don't want
• 13:36
  S2: to I don't want to sort of give anyone a
• 13:37
  S2: free pass. But is it reasonable that he knew about
• 13:41
  S2: the tax. He wouldn't have known. I'm sure he doesn't
• 13:43
  S2: go around to every single department in the federal government
• 13:46
  S2: and ask them how people are, you know, whether they're
• 13:48
  S2: paying their tax. He might not meet many people in
• 13:53
  S2: parts of Australia if he did. But that said, you know,
• 13:56
  S2: it isn't a secret that Phillip Lee's relations with the
• 14:00
  S2: authorities have been a bit fraught since he came here.
• 14:03
  S1: Is that right? Like, how well known has that been? And.
• 14:06
  S2: Well, I've written at least a half a dozen stories
• 14:09
  S2: again and again, I think I'm. I don't know if
• 14:11
  S2: people have been bored about hearing. But on the mid-north coast,
• 14:14
  S2: he owns a very significant waterfront bushland retreat at Farm Cove,
• 14:19
  S2: and he has owned it for a long time. There
• 14:20
  S2: has been a series of environmental breaches on it. Since 2009.
• 14:25
  S2: He has garnered the attentions of the state regulatory authorities
• 14:29
  S2: for some of the breaches there, and it was last
• 14:31
  S2: written about by me last year in regards to some
• 14:34
  S2: orders from the Land and Environment Court to restore parts
• 14:37
  S2: of the property. So that has all been on the
• 14:40
  S2: public record.
• 14:41
  S1: So I guess, is it a bad look for Anthony
• 14:43
  S1: Albanese to have attended this party and then accept the donation?
• 14:47
  S1: And do we even know if he has accepted a
• 14:49
  S1: donation from Felix Lee?
• 14:51
  S2: Look, we don't know. The question is, you know, given
• 14:53
  S2: the lack of transparency, you know, it would be good
• 14:56
  S2: to know and it would be good to know what
• 14:58
  S2: comes with it, what strings are attached at the back
• 15:00
  S2: of it. The reality is, you know, his office has
• 15:03
  S2: said that it will be disclosed and in the appropriate
• 15:05
  S2: channels at the appropriate time, and not at the email
• 15:08
  S2: or calls of Lucy Macken. So yeah, but so anyway,
• 15:13
  S2: but the reality is this should have been better known,
• 15:16
  S2: I guess, beforehand. And now we do know and he knows. And,
• 15:19
  S2: you know, if he was thinking why this might not
• 15:22
  S2: be a good idea, he doesn't have to go back
• 15:24
  S2: too far in time to the fortunes of our state
• 15:27
  S2: governments as to how this stuff plays out, when donations
• 15:32
  S2: are made and there's a lack of transparency over them.
• 15:34
  S1: And are you thinking of any particular scandal?
• 15:37
  S2: Lucy Macken Well, there was a certain Aldi bag that
• 15:40
  S2: was full of cash.
• 15:42
  S1: Well, it's funny you mentioned this because you did mention, yes,
• 15:45
  S1: that there was this incident. It was quite public. I
• 15:48
  S1: guess it was made quite public. I believe it was
• 15:50
  S1: 2019 and there was a corruption inquiry into the state's
• 15:53
  S1: donation laws.
• 15:54
  S2: Yeah, ICAC was damning about it.
• 15:56
  S1: That's right. After Chinese billionaire Zhang Mo, who you mentioned before,
• 16:00
  S1: he had delivered $100,000 in cash in an Aldi plastic bag.
• 16:05
  S1: So I guess, is that why this is sort of
• 16:08
  S1: perhaps such a interest?
• 16:11
  S2: Look, every case is actually different, and I'm not sure
• 16:15
  S2: I wouldn't actually go so far as to say foreign influence.
• 16:18
  S2: It's just unknown influence with all of these donations. And
• 16:22
  S2: it's crossed the political spectrum, right? I mean, when Simon Holmes,
• 16:26
  S2: a court is funding the teals through climate 200, you know,
• 16:30
  S2: there are questions raised there. How much say does that
• 16:33
  S2: give him in the policies of our teals? Likewise, as
• 16:35
  S2: we've mentioned, Gina Rinehart with Pauline Hanson. Clive Palmer likes
• 16:40
  S2: to have a little bit of a say in the
• 16:41
  S2: political process and isn't afraid to pay for it, and
• 16:44
  S2: none of the major parties are exempt from this. At
• 16:47
  S2: a state or a federal level.
• 16:48
  S1: And so, I mean, as a last question, Lucy, is
• 16:50
  S1: that ultimately why you reported on this? Why this matters,
• 16:53
  S1: why it's important for us to know where money is
• 16:56
  S1: being donated, where it comes from, when people are donating
• 16:59
  S1: to our political parties, and why the public should know, like,
• 17:02
  S1: is this why?
• 17:03
  S2: Well, look, if you take it back to a very
• 17:05
  S2: basic level, when vast amounts of money come into the
• 17:09
  S2: country and they are spent resetting, you know, values, in
• 17:14
  S2: a way, it might just be non-waterfront records, you know,
• 17:16
  S2: in Point Piper of ten years ago, right? It might
• 17:19
  S2: be houses in Chatsworth. It might be, you know, the
• 17:22
  S2: reason we have public access to tidal records is because
• 17:25
  S2: it speaks to where the money and the power and
• 17:28
  S2: the wealth is in our society and where it is not.
• 17:31
  S2: And without that sort of clarity as to what sort
• 17:33
  S2: of money and where it's coming from, that's paying for
• 17:35
  S2: this stuff. We don't do well from it. We don't
• 17:38
  S2: we don't have a clear oversight of ourselves as a society.
• 17:42
  S2: You know, the economics at some point needs to feed
• 17:44
  S2: into us as a society to let us know who
• 17:47
  S2: we are and you know, who's on top and who
• 17:50
  S2: is not. And it all feeds into that. And I
• 17:53
  S2: hope to sort of sound simplistic about it all, but
• 17:55
  S2: that's what we're effectively talking about. And at a far
• 17:58
  S2: more advanced level. Yeah. When it's donations and it's coming
• 18:03
  S2: from 25 year olds, where is that 25 year old
• 18:06
  S2: getting the funds to do this? You know, what does
• 18:09
  S2: his grandmother do? At the end of the day, even
• 18:12
  S2: though we finally have a name and jobs and industries
• 18:16
  S2: in China. You know, that has funded the family wealth.
• 18:18
  S2: There's still a lot of questions that the ATO have
• 18:22
  S2: raised from this affidavit that remain unanswered.
• 18:27
  S1: Well, thank you so much, Lucy, for your time.
• 18:30
  S3: Thank you.
• 18:39
  S1: And just a note, Phillip Lee did not respond to
• 18:42
  S1: requests for comment from our mastheads. Asked about the Albanese dinner,
• 18:46
  S1: a spokesperson for his son, Felix Lee, said he would
• 18:49
  S1: not comment on private engagements and in relation to his father.
• 18:53
  S1: He said Philip Lee's tax affairs are his own and
• 18:56
  S1: are not related to Felix Lee. Today's episode was produced
• 19:14
  S1: by Josh towers. Our executive producer is Tammy Mills, and
• 19:18
  S1: our podcasts are overseen by Lisa Muxworthy and Tom McKendrick.
• 19:22
  S1: If you like our show, follow the Morning Edition and
• 19:25
  S1: leave a review for us on Apple or Spotify. Thanks
• 19:29
  S1: for listening.