Spy chief warns of espionage threat

SYDNEY» Australia is under an “unprecedented” threat of foreign espionage and interference, one of the country’s most senior spy chiefs said in a rare speech, citing the case of a “sleeper agent” who spent years building business links.

Australian Security Intelligence Organisation Director-General Mike Burgess said several nations were working hard to influence lawmakers, government officials, media figures, business leaders and academics.

“The level of threat we face from foreign espionage and interference activities is currently unprecedented,” Burgess said at

ASIO headquarters in Canberra on Monday evening as he unveiled the agency’s annual threat assessment.

“It is higher now, than it was at the height of the Cold War.”

Burgess did not identify the countries infiltrating Australia, a staunch ally of the United States. ASIO is Australia’s domestic intelligence agency.

Reuters reported in September that Australia’s intelligence agencies concluded China was responsible for a cyberattack on the Australian parliament and three largest political parties just months before a general election in May 2019.

China, which is Australia’s largest trading partner, has denied responsibility for the attack. Australia decided not to reveal the identity of the attackers in order to protect its trading relationship with China, sources familiar with the decision told Reuters in September.

Burgess said Australia was being targeted in part because of its strategic position and alliances and its leadership in science and technology.

He said the sleeper agent from an unnamed country laid dormant for several years, building business and community links before he started to supply information about expatriate dissidents. That information, Burgess said, was used to harass the dissidents in Australia and their relatives overseas.