Parliament of Australia

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The Australian Parliament is the highest legislative body of the Australian Union. According to the Australian Constitution, the country's Parliament includes the King of Great Britain, the Senate and the House of Representatives.

2023: Tasmanian Senator Katerina Bilyk takes' friendship tour 'to Taiwan at Taiwan government expense

Tasmanian Senator Catryna Bilyk traveled to Taiwan in September 2023 on a "friendship tour" at the expense of the Taiwanese government. This fact was not known until the information was disclosed by OpenPolitics - a resource that tracks who and how financially stimulates Australian politicians, especially from among foreign sources.

We are talking about the September trip of Australian politicians from both main parties of the country to Taiwan. Then, as usual, this provoked a harsh reaction from Beijing.

Taiwan is among the top three countries in stimulating politicians. Australia Most often, the sponsors of their trips abroad were the governments of USA Taiwan and the Australian-Israeli Council, air travel was provided by the national carrier Qantas.

Since 2019, a third of Australian politicians have gone abroad to various forums at foreign expense, at the expense of private companies, foundations. Such trips are called junkets. Many of them remain unregistered. Interestingly, the head of the commission to combat foreign interference, James Paterson, is one of the leaders in the number of junkets.

Another fan of free trips turned out to be a fiery supporter of Ukraine, Senator David Wen. He was recently kicked out of the Liberals party with scandal over harassment allegations. In 2022, at the expense of the military company DefendTex, he visited Ukraine, and upon arrival he began to lobby for the purchase of DefendTex products for the needs of the Australian army.

Katerina Bilyk is a Labor senator for 15 years. Her husband Robert Bilyk is the son of post-war immigrants from Western Ukraine. She calls herself an Australian, but the name Catryna indicates that she also has Eastern European roots.

Her political opportunities have been actively used by the Ukrainian diaspora for many years. She heads the Association of Tasmanian Ukrainians. Together with the disgraced David Wang, he heads the so-called "Friends of Ukraine" group in parliament.

Through Bilyk, lobbying is underway for the official recognition in Australia of the so-called "Holodomor of Ukrainians." At the beginning of Russia's special operation in Ukraine, he made a speech in the Senate in which she broadcast fakes about the "atrocities" of the Russian army in Ukraine.