Due to security concerns about the winning bidder, the Victorian Liberal Party was forced to return more than $300,000 from the fundraising auction, including money raised with the Malcolm Turnbull, Julie Bishop and Matthew Guy dinner auctions. The auction, which was attended by the then Prime Minister, Foreign Minister and Victorian Opposition Leaders, was brought to a fundraising event by the current Chisholm MP Gladys Liu in 2015. The Herald Sun also revealed that last year, Victorian senior Liberal Party held a high-level meeting to discuss the decision to pre-select Liao Wei in Chisholm because of concerns about her connections in the Chinese community. The fundraising activity in October 2015 was allegedly raised $750,000 for the tight-fed Liberal Party Victoria branch. The event held at Federation Square was 1,100 yuan per person and 400 people were sitting at 40 tables.
The winners who had dinner with Tan Bao and Bi Xiaopu had their bids exceeding 100,000 yuan. The price of dinner with Gay was slightly less than 100,000 yuan, and was also bought by Liao Wei’s guests. However, after the Prime Minister’s office was assessed for fear of the safety of the successful bidder, these dinners were never held and the Liberal Party was forced to return more than 300,000 yuan. Several senior Liberal figures confirmed this “fascinating” refund. A former senior official said: “The money has been returned, people are very unhappy.” Another source said that Gay was actually forced to follow the federal parliamentarians.
The source said that after knowing that the Prime Minister and the Foreign Minister “will not have dinner with these people,” the Victorian leader has no choice. In 2018, after Tan Bao refused to invite a Chinese New Year event, he began to discuss whether Liao Wei was suitable for pre-selection. The Herald Sun learned that Tan Bao’s office received a “recommendation” saying that he should not associate with some guests. He was then placed at another Spring Festival venue in the CBD. Liao said in a statement: “Any question about the dinner or schedule of the former Prime Minister Tan Bao is best handled by him.” A Liberal Party spokesman said, “The Australian Liberal Party (Washington Branch) fundraising is in line with all Relevant state and federal laws.”