The security of Australia’s Defence assets has been entrusted to a group with significant ties to the Chinese leadership. Michael West reports on a new disclosure to Parliament.
Red Alert … oops! After years of huffing and puffing about the security threat from China, it appears our politicians have twigged that the contract for monitoring – and providing security for – Australia’s bases and assorted Defence assets is being operated by none other than … wait for it … the Chinese.
Wilson Security has the contract. Wilson Security is controlled by the Kwok family of Hong Kong and the Kwok family is in tight with the Communist Party leadership of China.
Be red alert not red alarmed
According to the “Red Alert” series published by The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age on March 7, 2023, Australia could be drawn into a war with China within three years. It is now 2026, so that attack may be imminent if the Nine sources are correct.
It is unlikely they are. Just looking out the window here and it doesn’t look like the invasion has happened yet.
But before you throw up your hands and exclaim
If you didn’t laugh, you’d cry,
this ticklish ownership issue is known to regulators.
According to answers filed to Questions on Notice to Parliament:
“Wilson Security’s beneficial ownership is through a layered corporate structure. Defence uses a number of sources to verify an entity’s beneficial ownership. Initial advice was obtained from the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC). Please refer to ASIC for further details.”
Phew! It’s with ASIC.
Questions on Notice
That ‘beneficial ownership is through a layered corporate structure’ is is a relief because the Kwok family has significant ties with Beijing. The Kwoks are founders and controlling shareholders of Hong Kong’s Sun Hung Kai Properties (SHKP) which has extensive commercial and political ties with the Chinese government.
Wilson Security won its first contract with the Department of Defence under the Prime Ministership of Tony Abbott on July 10, 2014 and has operated through every successive regime to the present day.
Wilson Parking’s tax numbers appear to defy economic reality
The group has largely flown under the radar, which is a pity because its complicated corporate structure – or in its verbiage ‘layered’ – has enabled the group to be … flexible in relation to its tax arrangements in this country.
While many Australia’s have been significantly penalised when reaching the pay-stations at its ubiquitous Wilson Parking facilities, Wilson Parking itself has contributed an average of $8.9m a year in income to the Tax Office over the past 11 years of transparency data despite its annual turnover exceeding $1B in 7 of those years.
MWM TaxData
Better something than nothing.
What they do
Among its Defence security activities, Wilson Security, which is not included in these tax figures (that’s just carparks), provides security officers to defence sites. It has carriage of access control gatehouse operations providing guards, screening and entry management.
It also provides alarm and monitoring services, cameras and access control systems through a National Operations Centre, and Technology Solutions which include design, installation, integration, and maintenance of access control, CCTV analytics, and remote monitoring systems.
Further, Wilson delivers mobile and solar CCTV solutions: relocatable, solar-powered CCTV units deployed to remote training areas and hard-to-reach defence land where fixed infrastructure is unavailable.
The group is sizeable in Australia. Wilson Security operates as an Australian private company under the broader Wilson Group. Alongside security, the group manages Wilson Parking, Wilson Storage, and Wilson Health (Medic One) across the Asia-Pacific region.
The ultimate parent company is Sun Hung Kai Properties Limited acquired the Wilson Group in 1991. The property and infrastructure giant holds ultimate ownership through offshore holding entities.
As far as regulation is concerned, the Australian Department of Defence’s DISP rules stipulate that foreign-owned businesses can work on Defence contracts if they establish an Australian subsidiary and pass strict Foreign Ownership, Control or Influence (FOCI) and security vetting checks.
DISP acts as a security vetting framework for companies, ensuring that foreign parent entities cannot access classified Australian information or interfere with sensitive operations.
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Michael West established Michael West Media in 2016 to focus on journalism of high public interest, particularly the rising power of corporations over democracy. West was formerly a journalist and editor with Fairfax newspapers, a columnist for News Corp and even, once, a stockbroker.