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Key Points
- ASIO says a foreign network of spies has targeted Australians and successfully recruited a former politician.
- The “A-team” recruited a politician who “sold out their country, party and former colleagues”.
- The person was not longer a threat and had been “neutralised”.
Opposition leader Peter Dutton has joined calls for Australia’s intelligence agency to expose the “traitor” ex-politician recruited by spies working for a foreign nation.
On Wednesday, ASIO director-general Mike Burgess said that an “A-team” of foreign spies had targeted Australians, including a former politician who then “sold out Australia”.
“This politician sold out their country, party and former colleagues to advance the interests of the foreign regime,” he said while delivering his annual threat assessment.
Dutton has demanded ASIO reveal the identity of the former politician.
“If he (Burgess) doesn’t indicate the name, then there’s a cloud hanging over everybody else,” he said.
He said he would “put my money” on it being a former NSW Labor politician and the country being China but didn’t offer any evidence or further details.
The Coalition would work with the government to amend the necessary legislation to make foreign interference laws retrospective, Dutton said.
“I wouldn’t have any hesitation supporting a discussion around that being made retrospective,” he said.
“The most egregious act is from somebody in public office who betrays their country and I wouldn’t have any tolerance for it whatsoever.”
Earlier, former Treasurer Joe Hockey called for the person to be publicly outed.
“You can’t make an allegation about someone being a traitor and then expect that no one will ask questions,” he told Sydney radio 2GB on Thursday.
“I served 20 years in parliament — I want to know who that person is.”
He said Burgess risked impugning “anyone that has ever served in politics”.
The former ambassador to the US also claimed Australia’s reputation abroad is at stake, as it could lead allies to question which politicians they can trust.
ASIO boss reveals spy threat is “neutralised”
Burgess said the person in question was no longer an active threat and had been “neutralised”.
“They’re not doing it now, they’re not breaking the law,” he told reporters and intelligence community officials at his annual address.
“If we see them go active again, I can guarantee they’ll get caught.”
“Several individuals should be grateful the espionage and foreign interference laws are not retrospective,” he added.
He also detailed how the “A team”, short for Australia team, of foreign spies posed as consultants, headhunters, local government officials, academics and researchers and targeted students, academics, politicians, businesspeople, law enforcement officials and public servants.
They offered cash for information, paying a premium for insider details.
Burgess put the team on notice, stating that their “cover was blown” and ASIO would find them if they continued to target Australians.
Home Affairs Minister Clare O’Neil said all public figures had a duty to ensure Australia’s safety.
“As the director-general has made clear, even though it is not the primary threat, we never can, or will, take our eye off the threat of terrorism in our country,” she said in a statement on Thursday.
“It is a responsibility of all public figures to ensure that their words and actions do not compromise our social cohesion or increase the possibility of violence in our country.”
– With additional reporting from AAP.
