An ‘A-team’ of spies is offering cash for Australians to sell out their country

Former PM Malcolm Turnbull’s son has revealed he was the target of foreign spies, as Opposition Leader Peter Dutton says ASIO must name the former politician who betrayed Australia.

The son of former prime minister Malcolm Turnbull has outed himself as the target of foreign spies, revealing he rejected an approach and reported it to Australian authorities.

Alex Turnbull has told news.com.au his experience lined up with the situation explained by ASIO director-general of security Mike Burgess where a compromised former politician attempted to bring the family member of a PM into the orbit of foreign spies.

Mr Turnbull described the 2017 approach by suspected Chinese agents as “brazen” and said he was offered equity in a company.

“My reaction was to express no interest and forward the details immediately to the authorities,” he said.

Australia’s top spy boss has revealed a crack unit of foreign spies “cultivated and recruited” a former politician, who then “sold out” their country, party and former colleagues to help the foreign regime several years ago.

Director-General of Security of Australian Security Intelligence Organisation, at the ASIO headquarters in Canberra, in February 2020. Picture: Sean Davey.

ASIO director-general of security Mike Burgess said the compromised former politician even proposed bringing a prime minister’s family member “into the spies’ orbit,” but this plot did not go ahead.

Opposition leader Peter Dutton on Thursday called for the ASIO boss to name the politician otherwise there would be “a cloud hanging above everybody else”.

“If you’re putting the detail out there as he has done it is incumbent on him to give a little bit more detail, a little bit more of a hint on who it might be because I think it’s a little bit unfair on a lot of former MPs who are patriotic,” he told 2GB.

Mr Dutton speculated the person was an ex-Labor politician from NSW, but would not give a name.

“The person should be outed and shamed,” he said.

Former federal treasurer and ex-US ambassador Joe Hockey has also called for the spy politician to be named.

“You can’t make a statement about someone being a traitor and expect that no one will ask questions,” he told 2GB’s Ben Fordham.

Leader of the Opposition Peter Dutton urged ASIO to name and shame the former MP. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Martin Ollman

“If you are elected into office you are there to serve your nation and no other nation. A suggestion that a politician or a former politician is a traitor and behaves like a traitor and did it deliberately and is allowed to be forgiven and walk away into the sunset is unacceptable.

“It reflects on everyone. In Washington I was asked about it. They’ve wondering who they can trust. Who is the politician that they dealt with who may have been the agent of a foreign nation.

“It’s extraordinary stuff and I am sure if the reports are correct then everyone serving in parliament now or who has served has a right to know who this person is.

“It affects my reputation, the reputation of my country, it affects Australia and all Australians.”

Mr Burgess revealed the “aggressive and experienced” team dubbed the A-Team compromised the former politician and even proposed bringing a prime minister’s family member “into the spies’ orbit,” but this plot did not go ahead.

Delivering his annual threat assessment on Tuesday night, Mr Burgess said he was declassifying information about the A-team to raise awareness and to disrupt the spies’ efforts in real time.

Ex-US ambassador Joe Hockey said on Thursday the ASIO boss must now name the politician.

Though Mr Burgess did not name the foreign country responsible for the team, it is believed to be an arm of the Chinese intelligence service.

“The A-team members trawl professional networking sites looking for Australians with access to privileged information, and then use false, anglicised personas to approach their targets,” he said.

Mr Burgess revealed the A-team used names including Sophy, Amy, Ben and Eric, and claimed to be from fictional companies, such as Data 31.

The spies pose as consultants, headhunters, academics or think tank researchers and commonly promise thousands of dollars for reports on Australian trade, politics, economics, foreign policy, defence and security.

“Additional payments can be offered for ‘inside’ or ‘exclusive’ information,” Mr Burgess said.

He said unsolicited offers that were “too good to be true” should all raise red flags for Australians, whom he criticised for “publicly boasting” about having a security clearance or sensitive job on professional networking sites.

ASIO is tracking foreign countries scanning Australian infrastructure for cyber weaknesses.

Mr Burgess revealed the A-team had invited Australian academics and political figures to an all expenses paid overseas conference where they were met by “spies in disguise” trying to recruit them.

As a result one academic gave the team information about national security and defence priorities, while an aspiring male politician handed over analysis of a recent election, factions within his party and the names of “up-and-comers”.

Mr Burgess said while the risk of a terror attack in Australia remained “possible,” foreign interference and espionage was “certain”.

Mr Burgess also said he was aware of one country conducting “multiple attempts” to scan critical infrastructure in Australia, targeting water, transport and energy networks looking for future sabotage opportunities.

He raised concerns about an “uptick” in the number of nationalist and racist violent extremists advocating sabotage in private conversations, revealing ASIO feared a “lone actor moving from talk to action without warning“.

Mr Burgess also flagged “heightened community tensions” that have “translated into some incidents of violence connected to protest activity” in the wake of the October 7 Hamas attack on Israel and subsequent war in Gaza.

“Hateful rhetoric has targeted Israel and the Jewish community, as well as Muslim and Palestinian communities,” he said.