The NSW government has pounced on an investigation into a series of political donations made to the NSW branch of the Australian Labor Party, alleging foreign interference has burrowed to the "very core" of the ALP.
The Independent Commission Against Corruption raided the party's Sydney CBD headquarters on Sussex Street on Tuesday, as Labor heavyweights attended the party's national conference in Adelaide.
The donations in question were made in 2015 and NSW Labor says it's co-operating fully with the ICAC to supply all relevant documents.
The donations reportedly relate to an annual Chinese Friends of Labor fundraising event.
NSW cabinet minister Anthony Roberts on Wednesday said Labor needed to "come clean" about the donations.
"There seems to be a culture in NSW Labor where there is foreign interference right to the very core of their party," Mr Roberts told reporters.
"The fact these raids have occurred so close to an election I think signifies their concern possibly over allegations or claims of what appears to be foreign interference and potential corruption."
Premier Gladys Berejiklian said the raid was "extremely concerning".
"It's a big deal for that to happen," Ms Berejiklian told reporters on Wednesday.
NSW Labor leader Michael Daley said he didn't know any details about the donations, but the party would cooperate with the investigation.
Asked about the Chinese Friends of Labor events and whether he would attend any of their future functions, Mr Daley said he would take all invitations on their merits.
"If there was any doubt about the ethicacy or honesty of any group, I wouldn't go to any of their fundraisers, it wouldn't matter what nationality they were, if there was a doubt about their bona fides I wouldn't go," Mr Daley told reporters.
Senior Labor MP Adam Searle, who was photographed at a Chinese Friends of Labor event, said he didn't notice anything awry during the function.
"Not as far as I can recall, no," Mr Searle said.
He added he won't attend any similar fundraising events until it became clear what the corruption watchdog is investigating.
Former federal Labor senator Sam Dastyari, who last year resigned over a scandal involving his links to Chinese business figures, has distanced himself from the investigation.
"I want to thank the newspapers for keeping me relevant," he tweeted on Wednesday.
"Even if it's about a raid I know nothing about. Regarding some fundraiser I wasn't at. About an office I had left years earlier (Labor) by a state authority that has nothing to do with me."
Australian Associated Press
