Plan to make dissident ‘disappear’ amid foreign interference crackdown
Spies operating on Australian soil have plotted to lure a human-rights activist overseas to dispose of them and inquired about hiring a contractor to make a dissident disappear, amid a government crackdown on foreign interference.
Spies operating on Australian soil have sought to intimidate and harass members of diaspora communities, plotted to lure one human rights activist overseas to dispose of them, and inquired about the cost of making a regime dissident disappear, as the government unveils new measures to combat foreign interference.
The Counter Foreign Intelligence Taskforce has interrupted plots in which agents from overseas intelligence services have fostered relationships with public servants, bank workers, doctors, police employees and other professionals to obtain personal data.
This includes one case when an insider was offered more than $10,000 to do whatever was necessary to obtain the information to assist spies to follow, film and harass their target.
The number of foreign interference plots the taskforce successfully disrupted has increased by 265 per cent, amid warnings from ASIO boss Mike Burgess that the nation is experiencing the highest level of foreign interference, espionage and terrorism in its history.
The insights into the more than 120 operations carried out by the ASIO-led taskforce since it was established in 2020 come as the Albanese government announces a suite of measures to bolster efforts to combat the threat to Australia, including increased screening of visa-holders and the establishment of community support hubs.
Home Affairs Minister Clare O’Neil has unveiled plans to introduce a Technology Foreign Interference Taskforce to combine the tech sector and government to protect sensitive information from “espionage, sabotage, and foreign interference”.
She also announced the existing Counter Foreign Intelligence Taskforce would be expanded and made permanent.
Ms O’Neil revealed the government was exploring how foreign interference could be combated through the migration system, including establishing visa cancellation powers.
“Foreign interference is a complex problem and we are constantly working with our agencies to make sure that we are covering all possible avenues of attack,” Ms O’Neil said.
“This world-leading package of reforms addresses emerging elements of this constantly evolving threat. These are essential upgrades to our defences which will result in vulnerable communities and sensitive technologies being better protected from a threat that the director-general of ASIO has identified as the most serious we face.”
While Mr Burgess has not identified the foreign intelligence organisation running the networks, Chinese and Russian spies have been the most active in Australia, while details of a plot involving two Indian spies emerged earlier this year.
In another incident uncovered by the taskforce, a foreign intelligence service recruited individuals to follow, photograph and report on the movements of an Australian-based dissident, even going so far as to rent a property close to their target’s home to monitor them.
The spies pressured one agent with access to the individual’s personal financial information to provide records, and the dissident was followed as they went about their daily lives including into shops, outside their work and to their home.
In another case, an individual working for a foreign government hired a private detective to take photos of a dissident’s house, rummaged through their bins and asked how much it would cost to make the target disappear.
The detective was not aware they were engaging in a foreign interference plot, but believed they were investigating an acrimonious business dispute.
Prosecuting foreign interference in the courts is a difficult prospect, with only one successful conviction under legislation introduced in 2018.
In February, Chinese community leader Di Sanh Duong became the first person to be tried and convicted for preparing or planning an act of foreign interference after he sought to influence former Liberal Party MP Alan Tudge.
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