Australian politician quits over foreign donation scandalpublished at 12:47 British Summer Time 7 September 2016
Leisha Chi
Business reporter in Singapore
Taking a break from Sports Direct, an Australian senator has resigned over a foreign donation scandal involving Chinese companies.
New South Wales Labor senator and opposition member Sam Dastyari was heavily criticised for allowing the Yuhu Group to pay for a legal bill in late 2014.
He has also admitted to asking a Chinese government-linked group to pay a personal travel debt of A$1670 (£956).
The payments were first reported by Australia's Fairfax media.
There is now an investigation into whether he broke federal and state political party rules.
"It is clear that the ongoing examination of my behaviour is taking attention away from bigger issues facing Australia and Australians," he told a news conference on Wednesday.
"I made a mistake and I'm paying the price".