MP Probes WA Government on Why Shen Yun Unable to Secure State-Owned Venue

‘I’m just really concerned that we’ve got foreign influence causing ... our cultural organisations to show or not show particular material,’ the MP said.

Shen Yun Global Performing Arts’ 13th performance at the Capitol Theater in Sydney, Australia, on March 9, 2025. Lu Ming/The Epoch Times

A state MP has probed the Western Australian government over whether foreign interference played a role in barring performing arts group, Shen Yun, from a major venue.

In June, upper house Liberal MP Phil Twiss posted a video on Facebook airing concerns that the New York-based classical Chinese dance group had trouble booking His Majesty’s Theatre in Perth.

“Now, this is Australia; we’re Western Australia. I don’t care whether another country likes or dislikes what we put up as far as our arts; we have the right as a people here to make those decisions ourselves,” Twiss said in a Facebook post on June 16. 

The venue is managed by the state’s Arts and Culture Trust (ACT).

“I’m just really concerned that we’ve got foreign influence causing our arts and our cultural organisations to show, or not show, particular material because they don’t like it,” Twiss said, adding that Shen Yun, which last performed at the theatre in 2024, was one of the theatre’s “biggest grossing” and “most profitable” shows that year.

“But for some reason they are having trouble [booking] the theatre for shows,” Twiss said.

Creative Industries Minister Pressed For Answers

Twiss pressed the Western Australian Labor government for answers since being made aware of the local presenter’s difficulties.

During a WA legislative council session on June 16, Twiss put forward three questions to the Creative Industries Minister Simone McGurk:

• whether she was aware of any representations made to ACT or its staff on behalf of any foreign government or consular body regarding Shen Yun;
• whether she was aware of any confidential meetings held between ACT and/or His Majesty’s Theatre and a foreign investment government or consular body regarding Shen Yun; and
• whether the alleged representations or requests made in this meeting or other communications breached foreign interference laws.

Twiss said he was referred to the ACT, which operates “free from external influences.”

The Epoch Times contacted the ACT for a response and was referred to the creative industries minister’s office, which, in turn, did not provide a response.

Transnational Repression and a Chilling Effect

Shen Yun Performing Arts, which seeks to revive 5,000 years of Chinese civilisation, was founded by artists who practise Falun Gong. The spiritual discipline, also known as Falun Dafa, features meditative exercises and teachings based on the principles of truthfulness, compassion, and tolerance.

In 1999, the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) began a nationwide persecution of Falun Gong practitioners. Under the persecution, millions have been arbitrarily detained, tortured, subjected to forced labor, and even killed for their organs to fuel the regime’s lucrative transplantation industry.

Shen Yun’s performances feature dance pieces that tell the stories of practitioners who’ve faced persecution in China. The Epoch Times is a media sponsor of Shen Yun.

In recent years, Shen Yun has been subjected to a transnational suppression campaign involving intimidation, email threats, media campaigns, and bomb threats.

In fact, in February this year, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese was forced to evacuate from The Lodge after receiving Chinese-language bomb threats calling for the cancellation of Shen Yun in Australia or face the prospect of being “blown into ruins.”

That incident appears to have also triggered a chilling effect with organisers of the documentary “Unbroken,” which catalogues Shen Yun’s journey, struggling to find suitable venues in Australia amid lingering concern over future bomb threats.

Local Promoter Says Show Has Not Been Back Since 2024

Mark Hutchison, the principal promoter for Shen Yun Performing Arts in Perth, is seeking more information about the decision and has put through an FOI request about a meeting between the CCP consulate in Perth and His Majesty’s Theatre (HMT).

CCP representatives regularly appeal to venue operators to explain or halt Shen Yun performances. The Epoch Times has approached the Chinese Consulate in Perth for comment but did not receive a response.

“We have not been able to get a show back in that theatre since 2024 even though we were the most successful,” Hutchison said. Hutchison acts on behalf of the Western Australia branch of the Falun Dafa Association of Australia.

The Epoch Times is not suggesting CCP representatives had any influence over HMT’s decision-making.