Thread by @stephendziedzic

Officials from @dfat + Home Affairs appearing at a parliamentary committee investigating foreign interference in diaspora communities in Australia. One official says DFAT has "conveyed concerns" directly to Chinese + Cambodian officials over intimidation or harassment in Aust 1/

To be clear I think @dfat has referred specifically to China + Cambodia here not necessarily because they are deliberately singling them out, but largely because both Uighur + Cambodian community groups gave evidence today alleging intimidation/harassment from those govts 2/

Labor MP @JulianHillMP asks for the Foreign Minister's statement on Cambodia's move to charge former Victorian MP Hong Lim with incitement (it's a bit of a pointed question - she has made no such public statement) 3/ sbs.com.au/news/a-big-dis…

Hill says the FM's silence on this is "inexplicable." Officials from @dfat say Australia's Ambassador to Cambodia and the Foreign Minister have raised the issue with Cambodia at high levels 4/

Hill: "I would presume @dfat would consider this (hitting political opponents overseas with spurious criminal charges) an unacceptable tactic is that a fair conclusion?"

Official: "Yes, we would consider that to be ... not something that we would condone" 5/

"Not something that we would condone" - furious denunciation there from @dfat which is, as ever, throwing caution to the wind 6/

Hill asks how Australia will respond. What are the discussions in @dfat about the charges? There is a rather awkward silence which seems to drag for an eternity before officials say they'll come back with more information later because they don't have enough details right now 7/

Now Greens Senator @janet_rice asks if agencies are documenting harassment and intimidation conducted or coordinated by foreign governments. There's no clear answer. Officials say if people are worried they should contact the police or the national security hotline 8/

A Home Affairs official say he is "not seeking to pass the buck" ... but simply making the point that his agency doesn't have an enforcement role when it comes to investigating harassment or intimidation 9/

Now @JulianHillMP asks which countries @dfat *has* raised concerns with re foreign interference. One official who covers Cambodia, Vietnam, Thailand and Laos says the Dept *has* raised concerns with both Cambodia and Vietnam but has *not* raised any with Thailand or Laos 10/

Officials aren't really willing to provide any more information publicly about which other countries are harassing or intimidating members of the diaspora 11/

And that's a wrap. I get the clear impression that the MPs on the committee were very underwhelmed by the responses they got 12/