INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
Internships at Parliament House are restricted to Australian citizens, a spokeman saidSydney: Foreigners have been banned from working as
interns for Australian members of parliament, a spokesman for the Senate said on Thursday, in a reform apparently aimed at blocking Chinese
prying into Australian affairs.The programme placing young people in a much-prized position working for a federal legislator for a
three-month stint had been open to all nationalities, as long as the applicant did not have a criminal record."Internships at Parliament
House are restricted to Australian citizens," said a spokesman for Senator Scott Ryan, president of the Senate, which oversaw the change.The
spokesman declined to comment on what prompted the alteration or if it was made to block Chinese interference.Late last year, Prime Minister
Malcolm Turnbull accused China of meddling in domestic affairs
China denied the accusation which led to a strain in ties between the important trading partners.The Financial Times newspaper reported in
September that a New Zealand citizen who had previously interned at an Australian parliamentary committee had links to a Chinese military
spy school.That report prompted a review of the intern system, which concluded standards should be bought in line with the rest of the
government.Chinese students had often applied to the programme and many worked as interns over the years.A spokeswoman for the Australian
National University (ANU), which provides many of the interns, said it had been informed of the change in the eligibility rule late last
year.The change was only publicly disclosed some months later when the ANU amended the rules it posted on its website.Last month, Australia
passed legislation designed to prevent interference by foreign governments, a reform Turnbull said was needed to combat Chinese
meddling.Under the law, lobbyists for foreign countries will be required to register and they will be liable to criminal prosecution if they
are deemed to be interfering in domestic affairs.© Thomson Reuters 2018(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by
TheIndianSubcontinent staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
