Asio director Mike Burgess said Australians who worked for foreign spies are no longer politicians and no longer pose a security threat, “but this That’s what happened.”
Burgess also said he knew the unnamed former politician was assisting foreign intelligence agencies. “This guy knew what he was doing,” he said.
Mr Burgess gave a handful of interviews following his annual threat assessment speech in which he claimed former Australian politicians had “sold out their country, their party and their former colleagues” after being scouted by foreign spies.
Burgess did not specify which level of government (federal, state or local) the former politician served. Mr Burgess also did not reveal his political party or the gender of his associates, amid speculation as to who his associates might be.
In an interview with Guardian Australia’s Australian Politics podcast published today, Mr Burgess said the individual’s activities pre-dated Australia’s 2018 Espionage and Foreign Interference Act, so they were admitted that it was legal.
Asked to outline the specific activities carried out by former politicians, Burgess said they ranged from “supporting the selection of candidates to inviting them to overseas conferences.”
“And for that overseas conference, all expenses, including airfare, were borne by the bureaucrats.” [but] Those bureaucrats were not bureaucrats, they were members of a foreign intelligence service,” Burgess said.
“They are [the spies] They were there to foster relationships, see who had access to government information, and build trust so they could get sensitive information that wasn’t normally available. ”
Asked whether Mr. Asio had directly confronted the former politician, Mr. Burgess would not provide details of the operation other than to say that “this person knows who he is” and that “the damage has already been dealt with.” said.
“If we see any indication that they are active again and engaged with foreign intelligence services, they will be the subject of our investigation,” he said.
in Individual interview with SBS News, Mr. Burgess revealed that the person was still in politics at the time of his activities. “[They are a] They are now former politicians and the matter has been resolved, but this also happened when they were politicians,” he said.
Asked if this had happened while he was an MP in Australia, Mr Burgess said: “That’s correct.”
Some current and former MPs, including Opposition Leader Peter Dutton and former Treasurer Joe Hockey, have said they will publish their names or at least give further details to avoid damaging others’ reputations. I asked.
Mr Burgess said his main aim was to raise awareness “so that politicians and budding politicians know what this threat is and are able to resist and report inappropriate approaches”. He said that.
Asio did not name individuals or share details of their work because the agency needs to “protect our people, information sources and means,” he said.
Mr Burgess said in his threat assessment speech last Wednesday: “At one point, the former politician even suggested putting the prime minister’s family into the spy orbit. Fortunately, that plot was never carried out, but other plans were. .”
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Alex Turnbull, whose father Malcolm Turnbull was Prime Minister from 2015 to 2018, said: news.com.au He didn’t know if he was part of the family Burgess mentioned, but said his experience matched that description.
He told the outlet that he was contacted around 2017 and offered a stake in a company.
“It was completely brazen,” Alex Turnbull told news.com.au. “My reaction was to be uninterested and immediately forward the details to the authorities.”
Asked whether there was a link between the two incidents, Mr Burgess clarified that his comment that “that plot didn’t move forward” meant the Prime Minister’s family had not been approached.
“This approach was not implemented,” Burgess said. “Mr Turnbull is talking about an approach that he claims actually happened. I think you have your answer there.”
There is no suggestion of wrongdoing by Alex Turnbull.
Federal Education Secretary Jason Clare supported Burgess’ decision not to name the former politician, saying it was more important for everyone in politics to be “vigilant” against the threat of foreign interference.
“This is not a guessing game, this is about keeping the country safe. The fact that this happened in the first place is extremely serious,” Clare told Sky News on Sunday.
“Importantly, there is evidence from Secretary Asio that other countries have intervened in Australian politics and have had contact with certain politicians.”
