“I make my own decisions, with absolutely no influence from anyone else,” a leaked set of notes compiled for Sam Dastyari by The Chinese government says.

The statement – entitled ‘What to say if questioned by the Australian media’ – says that while a Chinese company did pay for part of Dastyari’s business expenses, it certainly would never expect him to take a particular position, or say anything that he didn’t believe in.

Mr Dastyari broke his silence today, saying “This whole thing is big, big misunderstanding. Very bad. I pay back money”.

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