Bombshell details emerge about politician who ‘sold out Australia’ to foreign spies – as calls grow for their identity to be revealed

The head of ASIO has revealed the former politician who ‘sold out Australia’ served as an MP at the time.

Mike Burgess revealed for the first time on Wednesday night that an ex-politician had become entangled in a spy ring, but remained tight-lipped about their identities.

The director-general revealed further details to SBS on Sunday, saying the politician was serving as an MP at the time, but would not clarify whether they were part of state, territory or federal parliament.

“I understand the view that it is in the public interest (to name the person), but I don’t agree with that,” he said.

His comments come as calls mount for the former politician’s identity to be revealed, with Senator Bridget McKenzie urging Home Secretary Clare O’Neil to ‘use parliamentary privilege’ to obtain the information.

Mr Burgess gave insight into what could drive a politician to betray his own country, including whether money or coercion could be involved.

He would not elaborate on the specific motivation behind the case he was referring to.

“In general, motivation can be many things,” he said.

‘It could be money, it could be political beliefs. A foreign intelligence service may have built up a relationship with you for years, building up a sense of indebtedness so that you feel like you owe someone something.

‘It could be coercion, it could also be blackmail. There are a number of reasons why these things happen in general, but in specific cases, and even in the case I tell you, I won’t go into details.”

Mr Burgess said he was publicly casting light on the former politician to highlight awareness of the real threat of spies, and said it was not the first time there had been political interference.

“It’s important though that if I shared the details of who it was, they could find out how I found out who it was or how my organization (did it) and that is my secret source and I have to protect it,” he said.

Burgess said exposing the former politician who betrayed the nation by helping a foreign spy ring would harm future intelligence gathering.

His revelation that someone had been caught led to wild speculation about who they were and what political level they were at.

ASIO had been following the activities of the foreign spy ring for ‘less than ten years, but for a number of years’.

“If someone is looking to score political points by naming one person, I encourage them to think carefully about what they are asking for,” he added.

Burgess still keeps secret where Parliament – state, territory or federal – was serving. The photo shows the federal parliament

The identity of the person did not matter, Minister Jason Clare said.

“The point is there is evidence here from the head of ASIO saying another country has interfered in Australian politics by contacting a politician,” he told Sky News on Sunday.

“He has made it clear that this is still a real threat and we need to be on the lookout for it.

‘This is not a game of guess who, this is about keeping the country safe. The fact that this happened at all is deadly serious.”

Ms McKenzie said the former politician did not deserve to be protected and urged the Home Secretary to intervene.

“I think it is Clare O’Neil’s responsibility as a minister to absolutely use parliamentary privilege responsibly and with integrity and to name this person. They tried to betray our country,” she said.

“They don’t deserve to be protected by the political class in any way.”