But he said Australians would be “genuinely shocked” by the number of nations looking to obtain strategic intelligence, warning foreign spy agencies were also “aggressively targeting” areas like science, public sector projects and investments, green technology, critical minerals and Antarctic research, as well as taking a “very unhealthy interest in AUKUS”.

“Foreign intelligence services can obtain this material in person — convincing, coercing or seducing insiders to impart sensitive information — and through technology.”

Burgess says referencing employment on AUKUS ‘reckless’

Burgess also said covert operatives successfully convinced a public servant to provide names and addresses of people viewed as “dissidents” by a foreign power, while an academic with links to a foreign government broke into a restricted laboratory to film its contents.

Mike Burgess said many countries are “targeting anyone and anything that could give them a strategic or tactical advantage”. Source: AAP / Dominic Giannini

“They are just the tip of an espionage iceberg,” he said.

One example detailed by Burgess involved the smuggling of plant matter from a rare and valuable fruit tree species, obtained by a member of a foreign delegation at a “sensitive” facility.