Aussie spy boss makes shock admission about ‘friend’ countries
The head of Australia’s domestic intelligence agency says friendly countries have been caught threatening Australians on our own soil.
ASIO Director-General Mike Burgess specifically named only Iran as a country that “threatened Australia’s diaspora communities”, but added that “three or four” foreign countries were involved.
‘I can name at least three or four who are actually involved in foreign interference in Australian diaspora communities.’
“Some of them would surprise you, some of them are our friends too,” Mr Burgess said.
The director-general of ASIO made the comments in an interview with the ABC on Sunday, days after Australia’s terror threat level was raised to “probable”.
The threat level was raised due to an increased likelihood of politically motivated violence, and the upcoming federal election would therefore be a “focus point” for ASIO, Burgess said.
However, foreign interference and espionage remain the biggest concerns for the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation.
The most likely terrorist attack in this country would be carried out by someone “acting violently” with little warning and little or no planning, the ASIO chief has said.
ASIO Director-General Mike Burgess (pictured) has revealed that ‘friend countries’ are among the three or four foreign countries caught interfering in ‘diaspora communities in Australia’
It comes just days after Australia’s terror threat level was raised to ‘probable’ due to an increased risk of politically motivated violence (Photo: NSW Police)
“It could just be a response to language they’ve heard from someone, say a politician,” Burgess said.
“Most” politicians did not deliberately use language that inflamed tensions, he said.
‘There is a direct correlation between heated language, heated tension and violence.’
Iran was one of the countries caught threatening diaspora communities in Australia, he said.
Asked whether India was also threatening diaspora communities in Australia, Mr Burgess said there were “three or four” countries that had been caught out, some of which “may surprise your viewers”.
But he said he could only mention Iran because former Interior Secretary Clare O’Neil had publicly named the Gulf state.
Iran’s ambassador to Australia recently called on social media for the “extermination” of all Israelis in Palestine by 2027, calling Israelis a “Zionist plague.”
The ambassador provided an “absolutely” classic, appalling example of inappropriate, unacceptable language that can even lead to violence, Burgess said.
“That was an example of someone worth addressing.”