Millions paid to business run by spy chief’s husband under scrutiny

Michael ReadForeign affairs and defence correspondent

Updated Nov 28, 2025 – 3.37pm, first published at Nov 27, 2025 – 5.00am

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Australian Signals Directorate director-general Abigail Bradshaw has been at the centre of an investigation launched by a powerful intelligence watchdog as it queried tens of millions of dollars in contracts awarded to a defence company where her husband was a senior figure.

ASD, an intelligence agency specialising in cybersecurity, awarded contracts worth more than $46 million to BAE Systems Digital Intelligence, a subsidiary of the British giant, between March 2020 and June this year.

correction —

This story has been updated to remove a reference to an “own motion inquiry” by the Inspector-General of Intelligence and Security and to add a statement provided by ASD after deadline.

Michael Read is the foreign affairs and defence correspondent, reporting from Parliament House, Canberra. He was formerly economics correspondent. He joined the Financial Review in 2021 from the Reserve Bank of Australia. Reach Michael securely @michaelread.14 on Signal.