ABC star Stan Grant targeted by spies while working in China

As fears about foreign influence in Australia rise, Q&A host Stan Grant has shone a light on his experience as a reporter.

Beijing parked spies outside the home of Stan Grant while he was working as a reporter in China.

The Q&A host made the revelation on Monday night’s program when asked by an audience member if he’d ever felt like somebody was “standing behind your shoulder”.

“I lived in China as a reporter for 10 years. I didn’t have to wonder,” Grant laughed.

“They were parked outside my house!”

Stan Grant made the remarks during a discussion about foreign spies on Q&A.

ASIO boss Mike Burgess warned last week that journalists, military veterans and judicial figures were being targeted by foreign spies.

A “hive of spies”, the director-general said in his annual threat assessment, had targeted such figures before being deported.

It was later revealed that Russia was behind the spy ring.

Defence Industry Minister Pat Conroy shared that phones had to be smashed when returning home from certain countries.

“They give you an old Nokia … That’s good. I like to play the snake game,” he joked.

“You are not allowed any of your electronic devices, you take a Nokia, make phone calls.

“When you come back, they have a hi-tech solution to get rid of it. They hit it with a hammer. Wasted.”

He said that he understood the risk, given that as a minister he was protecting the nation’s secrets, not his own.

Pat Conroy said his Nokia phone was smashed when he returned from certain countries.

Former attorney-general George Brandis, who was responsible for overseeing the nation’s spy agency as a minister, said he “of course” felt that pressure while in the job.

“In a position like that you’re conscious that you are a position of interest to potentially hostile foreign powers,” he added.

Ukraine ambassador to Australia Vasyl Myroshnychenko said he took his personal safety and security “very seriously” given his role.

“We see a lot of that increased activity of this malign foreign influence where countries like Russia can undermine democracy. They know how to use freedom of speech to push their narratives and push their propaganda,” he said.

But International Trade Union Confederation general secretary Sharan Burrow warned that it wasn’t just Russia that was spying on people.

“For those of us old enough to have been anti-Vietnam War activists, I think ASIO had files on many of us,” she said.

“As the leader of the global labour movement, I can tell you surveillance is everywhere.

“As leaders, we expect that and you take precautions, you know, you can‘t escape it.”

Ms Burrow added that she was more concerned about the level of surveillance on everyday people.

“For workers in workplaces, the level of surveillance equals oppression, so we need brave politicians to actively legislate,” she said.

Originally published as ABC star Stan Grant targeted by spies while working in China