Labor senator Sam Dastyari says the donation has been declared. Credit:Alex Ellinghausen Senator Dastyari told Fairfax Media the payment was subsequently declared and that it was only for a "minor amount". "It is important that this be declared and it has been," Senator Dastyari said. He later tweeted that he understood the concern about the transaction and would donate the amount to charity. Senator Dastyari, who is one of the Labor Party's most senior figures and led the charge against alleged corruption in the banking industry, declined to respond to written questions about why he did not personally repay the expense as other MPs have done in the past, and whether he thought it was appropriate for Parliament's work to be paid for by external organisations. In a declaration dated October 12, 2015, Senator Dastyari declared "support for settlement of electorate staff travel budget overspend paid by Top Education Institute."

Top Education chief executive officer Minshen Zhu with Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull. Credit:Top Education MPs are allocated $95,279.63 for accommodation, staff travel and a daily living allowance. The Department of Finance is on Thursday due to release the latest batch of MP travel reports. Top Education Institute is a Chinese private higher education provider based in Sydney and run by Australian-Chinese businessman Minshen Zhu. Mr Zhu is said to be highly regarded in China. He is a senior adviser to the University of Sydney's Confucius Institute, has connections to China's Fudan University and wields considerable clout at home as a delegate to the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC), the Communist Party's people's forum, Fairfax Media has previously reported. It is not the first time Senator Dasytari has asked China to pay his bills. Last year it was revealed Chinese property-based firm Yuhu Group paid Senator Dastyari's legal bills when he was sued by an advertising firm over his conduct when he was the secretary of the NSW Labor Party.

Senator Dastyari's register also shows he regularly accepts donations from Chinese interests. In January 2014, he flew to Beijing courtesy of the Chinese People's Institute of Foreign Affairs. During the trip he visited the head office of the Yuhu Group, as well as Huawei, the Chinese telecommunications giant the former Labor government blocked from building Australia's National Broadband Network. In January 2016, Senator Dastyari flew to Beijing on a trip paid for by the International Communist Party of China. In 2014 the International Chinese Film Festival paid for a night's accommodation for Senator Dastyari to stay at the Crown in Melbourne so he could attend the Chinese Film Festival Award Ceremony. In the same year the China Relations Institute also sponsored catering for an afternoon tea. The role of Chinese donations to Australian political parties has been in the spotlight recently, with Mr Swan, a former treasurer and deputy prime minister, warning foreign donations could be "skewing" Australian democracy.

Last week the ABC reported $5.5 million had been donated by Chinese interests to the Labor and Coalition between 2013 and 2015. "I certainly think we should be having a stronger debate about the role of political donations and how that potentially is leading to political decision-making being skewed in favour of foreign countries," Mr Swan told the ABC. "I'm all in favour of that, and I'm all in favour of looking at tighter control in that area." Top Education Institute gave the Liberal Party $44,275 in 2014/15. It's unclear how much it donated in the 2015/16 financial year. Comment has been sought from the group.