Australian political party granted fund to undermine gun laws: media

CANBERRA, March 26 (Xinhua) -- Australia's right-wing One Nation party has been accused of courting a powerful U.S. Gun lobby to undermine Australia's strict Gun control laws.

An investigation by international media network Al Jazeera caught members of the party, including leader Pauline Hanson's chief of staff James Ashby, meeting with the National Rifle Association (NRA) and Koch Industries last September asking for up to 20 million Australian dollars (14.2 million U.S. dollars) in funding for a pro-Gun campaign.

Footage recorded by undercover Al Jazeera journalists in the meetings shows Steve Dickson, One Nation's leader in Queensland, saying that "we can change the voting system in our country, the way people operate, if we've got the money to do it."

"The ingredients are there, we just don't have the petrol to put in the engine," he said in a meeting with Koch Industries.

"So whatever you can do would be fantastic."

Former Australian Prime Minister John Howard introduced Australia's strict Gun control laws after Martin Bryant killed 35 people with a semi-automatic rifle in Port Arthur in 1996.

Responding to the Al Jazeera investigation on Tuesday, current PM Scott Morrison described reports that "One Nation officials courted foreign political donations... to undermine our Gun laws" as "deeply concerning."

"Australia's Gun laws are world's best thanks to John Howard and we will not be changing them," he wrote on social media.

Simon Birmingham, the Minister for Trade, Tourism and Investment, was even harder on One Nation, calling on leader Hanson to "front the cameras today" to explain her party's "sickening" actions.

The government in November 2018 passed laws banning all political parties from taking donations from foreign organizations.

"She should explain whether or not she was truly seeking an amazing 20 million AUD in foreign donations to One Nation, to her political party, whether or not she was again expecting to personally profit from an election campaign, whether or not she actually believes we should be weakening Australia's Gun laws, which is a remarkable thing to even contemplate at this time of reflection upon the tragedy in Christchurch," he told Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC).

"There are many answers here for One Nation, who are a risk to our trade policy, who are a risk to our national harmony and integrity, and who appear to be a risk to our foreign donation law bans and to our Gun laws as well."

Al Jazeera's three-year investigation into One Nation culminated in a documentary titled How to Sell a Massacre, which was broadcast on the international news channel on Monday night Australian time.

Prior to their visit to Washington where they met with the NRA in September 2018, Ashby and Dickson were recorded discussing their goals for the trip.

"If the NRA want to rally their supporters within Australia, that's one start," Ashby said.

"Two, I'd love to get my hands on their software. And three, if they can help us with donations, super."

Two months after Ashby and Dickson's trip, Hanson told the Australian senate that foreign donations have no part in Australian politics.

"Overseas money should not have an influence on our political scene, so I believe that foreign donations should be totally stopped," she said while debating the foreign donations ban.