Shropshire Star

Australian spy boss warns country is facing an ‘unprecedented’ espionage threat

Home Affairs Minister Peter Dutton said the country was fighting a “multi-pronged” battle.

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Australia Espionage

Australia faces an unprecedented threat from espionage and foreign interference, the head of Australia’s intelligence service said in his first annual threat assessment.

In a rare public address, Australian Security Intelligence Organisation (ASIO) director-general Mike Burgess said the severity of the threat level stemmed from the “scale, breadth and ambition” of the interference.

He warned that almost every sector was at risk including government, media and universities.

“We’ve seen visiting scientists and academics ingratiating themselves into university life with the aim of conducting clandestine intelligence collection,” Mr Burgess said.

“This strikes at the very heart of our notions of free and fair academic exchange.”

Australia Espionage
Senator Rex Patrick urged the Government to call out China on the issue (Rod McGuirk/AP)

Minor party senator Rex Patrick called on the Australian government to call out China, Australia’s biggest trading partner, as a major source of the interference.

“One thing that is missing from the dialogue is calling out the state actor involved,” Mr Patrick said.

“It’s almost certain that in a number of foreign interference circumstances that it is China and we should be calling them out, as the Canadians do, as the US does and the Czechs do.”

However Home Affairs Minister Peter Dutton said the threat was multi-pronged.

“We’re not just talking about China. We’re talking about Russia, we’re talking about Iran and we’re talking about others,” Mr Dutton told Sky News television.

China has long denied any foreign interference.

Australia angered China in 2018 by enacting sweeping national security legislation that banned covert foreign interference in domestic politics and made industrial espionage for a foreign power a crime.

Individuals lobbying for foreign governments now have to be listed on a public register in a step toward making foreign influence on Australian politics more transparent.

Mr Burgess said the legislation “is already bringing dividends and is likely to grow in importance for us”.

The Counter Foreign Interference Task Force, established last year to protect universities from foreign meddling, would “become a vital element of our strategy to defeat this threat,” Mr Burgess said.

The task force also includes a research and intellectual property working group to protect academic freedom and intellectual property.

It also safeguards universities against deception and undue influence.

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