Mr Carr first suggested in a phone call to Senator Keneally and her office on the evening of February 27 that she use the parliament to ask questions about Mr Garnaut, according to sources familiar with the matter. He subsequently asked Ms Keneally on at least one other occasion to use parliament to scrutinise Mr Garnaut’s work. Mr Carr denied he was the source of the questions. He said he had not drafted them and had not furnished them to Senator Keneally. Loading Mr Carr’s role in pushing for questions to be asked was only disclosed to many in the ALP after Senator Kimberly Kitching quizzed senior bureaucrats on May 22 about Mr Garnaut, relying on questions scripted by Labor staffers. Labor sources said that Senator Kitching, who could not be reached for comment, was later told by Senator Keneally that Mr Carr had requested the questions be asked.

Two Labor sources who spoke to Senator Kitching said she was “furious”. She also revealed to ALP colleagues that Senator Keneally had told her that Mr Carr “will owe you a favour” for having asked the questions. Mr Carr and Ms Keneally told Fairfax Media that the questions about Mr Garnaut were not written by Mr Carr, with Ms Keneally stating that it was "legitimate to ask questions on notice or in estimates about staffing and contractual arrangements to determine who is providing advice to government". Mr Carr said he had never met Senator Kitching. Senator Kristina Keneally during a Senate Estimates hearing. Credit:Dominic Lorrimer After he was quizzed by Fairfax Media, Mr Carr released a statement describing Mr Garnaut as one of ''the leaders of the recent anti-China panic in the Australian media" who should not be "carrying on the campaign" while on the Prime Minister's payroll. Senator Keneally also placed questions on notice to Mr Turnbull on May 18 that mirror those suggested by Mr Carr and later asked by Senator Kitching.

Ms Keneally has asked in what “capacity” Mr Garnaut worked for the government between September 2015 and June 2017. “What was his job title, to whom did he report, and what were the dates of his employment,” Ms Keneally asked in her question on notice. Fairfax Media has confirmed that between August 2016 and September 2017, Mr Garnaut was responsible for what is known in national security circles as the Garnaut-ASIO inquiry. The inquiry probed efforts by Beijing to influence Australian political parties, academia and the media. It is understood to have examined the activities of, among others, Mr Huang, the former financial backer of Mr Carr’s think tank, a Chinese billionaire and big political donor. Mr Huang previously provided generous funding to the Carr-led ACRI and has boasted about hiring Mr Carr to head the pro-China think tank.

Mr Huang’s relationship with NSW senator Sam Dastyari led to Mr Dastyari’s resignation from parliament in December 2017, paving the way for Senator Keneally to take his spot. The revelations about Mr Carr come with Labor divided over whether to support reforms proposed by Mr Turnbull to counter what ASIO has described as "unprecedented" levels of foreign interference in Australia. Mr Garnaut helped shape the reforms. Former Turnbull policy adviser John Garnaut. Credit:Louise Kennerley Mr Garnaut's involvement in a classified inquiry has been well known in Canberra for 12 months, although the findings of the inquiry have never been released. In March, Fairfax Media reported Mr Garnaut delivered incendiary testimony about clandestine Chinese government interference operations in Australia before a US Congress national security committee in Washington DC.

Mr Garnaut was described in this story as “Mr Turnbull’s China specialist in 2016 before shifting to the Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet to work on China-related policy." The story also stated that Mr Garnaut was "a private consultant ... assisting western government agencies, including in the US, to deal with influence operations.” While denying he had any role in pushing Ms Keneally to ask questions about Mr Garnaut, Mr Carr said on Monday night it was reasonable to scrutinise Mr Garnaut. In response to the questions asked by Ms Kitching, the department of prime minister and cabinet said that he was currently contracted as a specialist speechwriter. Mr Carr said in his statement of Mr Garnaut: “Fuelling a campaign against a friendly foreign country is incompatible with an advisory and speech writing role on the Prime Minister’s staff. "When the Prime Minister and Foreign Minister give the impression of reining in rhetoric on China, the revelation that Mr Garnaut has been on the Prime Minister’s payroll is decidedly unhelpful.”

Last week, the foreign interference laws were back at the centre of political debate after an explosive speech in federal parliament by Liberal MP Andrew Hastie and which explored allegations Beijing was interfering in Australian politics. Know more? Tip us off securely at JournoTips