Former Defence minister Joel Fitzgibbon says it is "absolutely possible" Rolex watches gifted to Tony Abbott, Stuart Robert and Ian Macfarlane by a Chinese businessman were bugged.
Intelligence sources are concerned about Chinese intelligence agencies targeting Australian MPs and want all items offered as gifts checked for bugs, Fairfax Media reports.
Mr Fitzgibbon confirmed today any gifts he received were sent to the Defence Signals Directorate, now the Australian Signals Directorate, for X-raying.
"Anyone in a senior position should do the same in the interests of national security," Mr Fitzgibbon said.
However, spokespeople for Mr Robert and Mr Macfarlane admitted the watches were not submitted for any sort of testing. Mr Abbott's office declined to comment, according to Fairfax.
The Rolex watches were gifted to the three politicians by Chinese billionaire Li Ruipeng in June 2013.
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