ESPIONAGE – AUSTRALIA

1200 Chinese spies on Aussie turf, former spook reveals

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Original article by Kathryn Bermingham
Herald Sun – Page: Online : 29-May-24

A former Chinese spy has told the Defending Australia summit that the nation has been infiltrated by many operatives from his homeland. ‘Eric’ warned that at least 1,200 Chinese spies are currently active in Australia; this includes about 1,000 "low-level" operatives and an additional 200 "professional" operatives. Eric said that most of the spies are being directed by China’s Ministry of State Security, the Public Security Bureau or a consulate, and that they are collecting information, undertaking surveillance and harassing targets on behalf of the Communist regime.

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Foreign agents planting digital mines in key tech

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Original article by Liam Mendes, Ellen Whinnett
The Australian – Page: 1 & 4 : 1-Nov-23

The Cyber and Infrastructure Security Centre has warned that Australia’s critical infrastructure is under serious threat from foreign interference and espionage. The CISC’s inagural annual risk review notes that the nation’s critical infrastructure sectors are deeply interconnected, so a significant disruption in one sector will affect others. Concerns have also been raised that foreign players have planted ‘digital landmines’ in Australia’s critical infrastructure that could be triggered in the future.

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CYBER AND INFRASTRUCTURE SECURITY CENTRE

Busier-than-ever ASIO cracks hive of spies and other plots

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Original article by Andrew Tillett
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 2 : 22-Feb-23

ASIO director-general Mike Burgess has used his annual threat assessment to warn that espionage and foreign interference are now the intelligence agency’s main security concerns. He said this has resulted in ASIO being busier now than at any time in its history, with Australians being targeted by foreign espionage agencies more than ever before. Burgess also warned that defence contractors in particular are being targeted in the wake of the AUKUS deal to acquire nuclear-powered submarines, and a "small but concerning number" of veterans have been willing to sell military secrets and expertise to foreign governments. Burgess has revealed that ASIO has uncovered and deported members of a "hive" of highly-trained foreign spies.

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AUSTRALIAN SECURITY INTELLIGENCE ORGANISATION

ASIO foils spy plot to interfere with election

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Original article by Simon Benson
The Australian – Page: 1 & 2 : 10-Feb-22

The Australian Security Intelligence Organisation’s director-general Mike Burgess says there have been attempts at foreign interference at all levels of government and in all states and territories. He has revealed that ASIO recently thwarted a foreign interference plot in the lead-up to an election, which is believed to have been the upcoming federal election. This plot involved a wealthy "agent of interference" with direct connections with a foreign government and its intelligence agencies; this person, whom Burgess referred to as "the puppeteer", had attempted to finance the campaigns of political candidates who were deemed to be susceptible to ‘inducements and cultivation’.

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AUSTRALIAN SECURITY INTELLIGENCE ORGANISATION

Spy charges for man tied to Communist Party

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Original article by Ben Packham, Tessa Akerman, Remy Varga
The Australian – Page: 6 : 6-Nov-20

A 65-year-old Melbourne resident has become the first person to be charged under the federal government’s foreign interference laws. Di Sanh Duong, who is also known as Sunny Duong, faces up to 10 years’ jail if he is convicted under laws that were introduced in 2018. Duong is the president of Oceania Federation of Chinese Associations, and he is a member of several organisations that are believed to have links to the Chinese Communist Party.

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OCEANIA FEDERATION OF CHINESE ASSOCIATIONS, COMMUNIST PARTY (CHINA)

ASIO foils plot to infiltrate Australian government

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Original article by Anthony Galloway
The Age – Page: Online : 16-Oct-20

ASIO has stated it uncovered and foiled a plot that could have seen classified information about Australia’s intelligence services fall into the hands of a foreign government. ASIO revealed details of the plot in its latest annual report, stating that the plot was detected and disrupted in 2020. ASIO director-general Mike Burgess says there are currently more foreign spies and their proxies in Australia than there were "at the height of the cold war", while he says right-wing extremists are have become "more organised, sophisticated, ideological and active" than in previous years.

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AUSTRALIAN SECURITY INTELLIGENCE ORGANISATION

No conflict for journalists as spooks

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Original article by Aaron Patrick
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 10 : 8-Sep-20

Australia Defence Association executive director Neil James says journalists who provide information to their own country’s intelligence service should not be viewed as spies. James was commenting on a report that former ABC foreign correspondent Peter Barnett may have assisted Australian intelligence services in the 1960s and 1970s. Media, Entertainment & Arts Alliance president Marcus Strom contends that providing information to an intelligence agency would be viewed as a conflict of interest for a journalist that would have to be declared under their code of ethics.

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AUSTRALIA DEFENCE ASSOCIATION, AUSTRALIAN BROADCASTING CORPORATION, MEDIA, ENTERTAINMENT AND ARTS ALLIANCE

PM won’t identify foreign spy ring

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Original article by Andrew Tillett
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 4 : 26-Feb-20

ASIO’s director-general Mike Burgess has declined to identify any countries behind a recently-exposed foreign spy ring. Prime Minister Scott Morrison has also refused to do so, citing national interest concerns. However, Centre Alliance senator Rex Patrick says nations such as the US and Canada have "called out" the countries that are involved in espionage and foreign influence. He has suggested that China is the "most likely culprit".

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AUSTRALIAN SECURITY INTELLIGENCE ORGANISATION, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET, CENTRE ALLIANCE

ASIO uncovers sleeper agent running spy ring

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Original article by Simon Benson
The Australian – Page: 1 & 4 : 25-Feb-20

Australian Security Intelligence Organisation director-general Mike Burgess says countering terrorism remains ASIO’s top priority. He was delivering the Annual Threat Assessment on 24 February, with Burgess stating the ­number of active terrorist leads ASIO was investigating had doubled in the past 12 months. He revealed that ASIO had uncovered a ‘sleeper agent’ running a major spy ring, although he did not disclose what had happened to the agent. Burgess said ASIO had used controversial new encryption laws within 10 days of them coming into effect in 2018 in order to prevent a possible terrorist attack.

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AUSTRALIAN SECURITY INTELLIGENCE ORGANISATION

Hastie helped spy find an ASIO haven

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Original article by Ben Packham
The Australian – Page: 1 & 2 : 29-Nov-19

Liberal MP Andrew Hastie has been linked to Wang Liqiang, who claims to have been a Chinese spy and is now seeking asylum in Australia. It has been revealed that Hastie was contacted by an associate of Wang via an encrypted telephone app in early October. Hastie, who chairs the parliamentary joint committee on intelligence and security, then contacted ASIO about Wang’s allegations regarding Chinese intelligence operations in Australia. The Chinese government maintains that Wang is a fraudster rather than a spy.

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LIBERAL PARTY OF AUSTRALIA, AUSTRALIAN SECURITY INTELLIGENCE ORGANISATION, AUSTRALIAN STRATEGIC POLICY INSTITUTE LIMITED