ASIO boss says China under no illusions over threat assessment

ASIO director-general Mike Burgess says China’s attendance to his threat assessment leaves Beijing in ‘no doubt’ about Australia’s national security concerns and commitment to fight foreign interference.

ASIO director-general Mike Burgess. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Martin Ollman

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ASIO director-general Mike Burgess says China’s attendance to his threat assessment leaves Beijing in “no doubt” about Australia’s national security concerns and commitment to fight foreign interference, while security experts warn the countries plotting to physically harm Australians were getting off “scot-free” by not being identified by the nation’s top spook.

Chinese ambassador to Australia Xiao Qian attended Mr Burgess’s threat assessment speech on Wednesday night, marking the first time Beijing’s top envoy has made an appearance at ASIO’s annual event.

Over several years, China has been linked to major cyber security attacks against Australian critical infrastructure, orchestrating foreign interference operations in the country and targeting CCP critics in the Chinese-Australian community.

“Ambassadors represent their countries, and every year we invite ambassadors from foreign nations to come along and listen to the threat assessment. This year, I thought, let’s invite the Chinese ambassador,” Mr Burgess told Sky News on Thursday.

“(China) can be left in no doubt where and what the issues are for us, and that’s all part of the important relationship we need to have with all nations.”

However, founder of Strategic Analysis Australia Michael Shoebridge said that failing to identify countries interfering in Australia or ousting the ambassadors from the nations responsible meant there were “no consequences” to their actions.

“(Mr Burgess) tells us at least three foreign governments have actively planned to either injure or assassinate people, and he’s disrupted those plots, but he won’t tell us who they are. And the problem with that is, where is the consequence to these governments who are not our friends?” he said.

“And even if he won’t name them, really we should be seeing foreign embassy staff expelled from Australia, from the countries that are having those people plan to assassinate people in our country.”

Mr Shoebridge also warned the failure to identify the countries cast significant doubt on several nations, which was not helpful.

“This reminds me of what (Mr Burgess) did last year when he told us all that a senior politician, now retired, had been in the pay of the foreign government and had sold out Australia but he told us he wasn’t going to name them,” he said. “And what that did is raise doubts about a whole lot of politicians and now he’s done the same thing with foreign governments.”

After flagging in Wednesday night’s address that AUKUS has become a target for foreign adversaries and friendly nations, Mr Burgess said he had deliberately sought to “put on notice” foreign intelligence services in his speech.

“That was done deliberately. You know, you’re speaking to the head of an intelligence agency,” he said.

“Yes, I was putting on notice foreign intelligence services. We see you are interested in AUKUS. We see what you’re doing. When we see you, we will deal with you. We will deal with your agents.”

Defence Minister Richard Marles said he was not “sanguine” about Australia’s security outlook and declared his government was making decisions about its defence capability based on the “threatening strategic circumstances”.