AFP in crackdown on foreign agents of interference

The AFP has frozen the bank accounts of a suspected foreign agent and will move against a range of foreign operatives in the first half of next year.

AFP commissioner Reece Kershaw revealed that a new specialist team of investigators was preparing to move against suspected foreign agents. Picture: AAP

The Australian Federal Police has frozen the bank accounts of a ­suspected foreign agent and will move against a range of foreign operatives in the first half of next year as part of a crackdown aimed at curbing unprecedented levels of foreign meddling.

In what is understood to be the first case of its kind, the AFP this month froze several bank ­accounts and seized cash from a suspected foreign agent.

It is not clear how much money was taken but The Weekend Australian understands the sum was large.

The action came after officers executed search warrants as part of an investigation into suspected intentional foreign interference, one of the new offences created to stem covert attempts by foreign states to influence Australian civic life.

The individual is being investigated over possible money-­laundering offences as well as foreign interference.

AFP commissioner Reece Kershaw revealed that a new specialist team of investigators was preparing to move against suspected foreign agents in the first half of next year, using disruption tactics including arrest, deportation and asset seizure.

The AFP has been under pressure to use the foreign interference laws passed by the Turnbull government last year, which caused tension in Australia’s already rocky relationship with Beijing.

“We’re seeing an increase in the number of matters being discovered and that are being referred to us,’’ Mr Kershaw told The Weekend Australian. “You are going to see that we’ll uncover some very interesting matters.’’

Mr Kershaw said a new unit comprising more than 40 staff dedicated to enforcing the foreign interference laws would be set up to tackle the problem. It would target the gamut of foreign-­interference activities ranging from covert influence campaigns to traditional espionage.

The AFP does not discuss which countries are most in the frame for foreign interference, but China is widely regarded as the most prolific offender.

Former ASIO director-­general Duncan Lewis said foreign interference was occurring at an “unprecedented scale’’.

“For us, an intervention might be a deportation, it may not be an arrest,” Mr Kershaw said.

“It could be a seizure of assets. It may not be a prosecution. It may be someone leaving the country voluntarily.’’

Mr Kershaw said a new commander had been appointed to lead the team, which would be set up within the AFP’s national ­security division, alongside ­counter-terrorism. He said the skills and capabilities needed to counter foreign interference were the same used to tackle terrorism.

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson this week cited Australia as a world leader in countering Russian and Chinese foreign interference, saying Britain would overhaul its Official Secrets Act partly using the Australian ­example.

Australia’s foreign interference code underwent an overhaul in 2018. Espionage offences were updated to include the ­solicitation and preparation of foreign spying, sabotage offences were changed and new crimes relating to foreign interference in Australian institutions or processes were enacted.

A register of foreign political agents was also created.

The changes were designed to counter a pervasive, aggressive foreign interference campaign waged against Australian institutions by a range of foreign actors, primarily the Chinese state.

Mr Kershaw also flagged an overhaul of the AFP’s internal structure, with the agency’s entire investigations function to be brought under one command.

The change reflects a belief that the AFP’s decision-making had become too bureaucratic and Canberra-centric.

He said more decision-­making power would be dele­gated to commanders in Sydney, Melbourne and other capitals.

Mr Kershaw flagged a renewed effort against organised crime, which he said had evolved rapidly to take advantage of encryption and the global drug market operating on the dark web. He said the anonymity and secrecy afforded by new technology, as well as the explosion of drug suppliers operating on the dark web, meant buyers and sellers no longer had to know each other.

“I can order 100kg of cocaine now and I don’t need to know the syndicate that’s doing it; it’s run like amazon.com,’’ Mr Kershaw said. “There are more sellers competing for the buyers. The model has changed. Some of it is done on spec. Buyers might lay down a small deposit … but buyer and seller don’t need to know each other anymore.’’

Mr Kershaw said the AFP’s major organised crime targets had moved offshore, making it harder to track their movements, monitor their communications and disrupt their activities.