ASIO foils foreign spy plot to disrupt federal election

A spy ring led by a wealthy ‘puppeteer’ with deep links to a foreign government has been caught trying to get sympathetic MPs elected.

Mike Burgess says ‘I can confirm that ASIO recently detected and disrupted a foreign interference plot in the lead-up to an election in Australia’. Picture by Sean Davey.

A spy ring led by a wealthy “puppet­eer” with deep links to a foreign government and its ­intelligence agencies recently tried to bankroll vulnerable ­political candidates in an attempt to get sympathetic MPs elected to parliament.

In one of the most brazen ­attempts at subverting Australia’s political system, the network sought to get candidates into positions of power but was shut down by the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation before it could fulfil its ambitions.

While ASIO has not named the country involved, the sophistication of the operation, according to intelligence sources, pointed to only two nation states with that level of intent and the resources to carry it out: China or Russia.

It is understood that the sting was carried out recently, suggesting the target was the federal election due in May. The Australian has confirmed that Scott Morrison and Anthony Albanese were both briefed on the plot.

The subversion attempt has prompted a renewed warning to politicians from the country’s spy boss, ASIO director-general Mike Burgess, that the election is a ­highly vulnerable target.

Delivering the annual threat assessment in Canberra, Mr Burgess said on Wednesday night the security environment the country faced was becoming increasingly complex, with espionage and foreign interference now surpassing terrorism for the first time as the agency’s primary concern.

However, he warned that terrorism had also taken a sinister turn during Covid-19 lockdowns, with Australian children being radicalised and recruited to extremist groups at an alarming rate.

Almost half of all high-priority cases being investigated by ASIO now involve minors.

Mr Burgess revealed that the rise of ideologically motivated ­extremism, as witnessed during anti-vax and anti-government Covid-19 protests, was now deemed a significant security risk that would escalate.

Revealing the foreign interference spy plot, Mr Burgess said the agency was on high alert.

“I can confirm that ASIO ­recently detected and disrupted a foreign interference plot in the lead-up to an election in Australia,” he said. “I’m not going to identify the jurisdiction because we are seeing attempts at foreign interference at all levels of government, in all states and territories.”

The case involved a “wealthy individual with direct and deep connections with a foreign government and its intelligence agencies”. “This agent of interference has roots in Australia but did the bidding of offshore masters, knowingly and covertly seeking to advance the interests of the foreign power and, in the process, undermine Australia’s sovereignty.

“I’ll call this person ‘the puppeteer’, although it’s important to ­remember that while the puppeteer pulled the strings, the foreign government called the shots.”

The “puppeteer” provided hundreds of thousands of dollars through an offshore bank account to run foreign-interference operations through a third party with ­direct links to politicians, political staff and journalists. The third party identified candidates believed to be vulnerable to inducements and cultivation.

The plan sought to promote the candidates’ political prospects through financial support, positive media coverage and hiring staff.

“The aim was not just to get the candidates into positions of power, but also to generate a sense of ­appreciation, obligation and ­indebtedness that could ­subsequently be exploited,” Mr Burgess said.

“The political candidates had no knowledge of the plot. Even if the plan had proceeded, they would not have known who was pulling the strings. The puppeteer used the employee as a cut-out.

“This deliberate deceit and ­secrecy about the foreign-­government connection is what took the case into the realm of foreign interference. Our intervention ensured the plan was not executed, and harm was avoided.”

Mr Burgess last year warned that by the mid-2020s, espionage and foreign interference were ­expected to have overtaken terrorism as ASIO’s principal security concern, but that had been realised earlier than anticipated.

“In terms of scale and sophistication, though, espionage and foreign interference threats are outpacing terrorism threats, and therefore demanding more attention and more resources,” he said.

“The threat is pervasive, multifaceted and, if unchecked, could do serious damage to our sovereignty, values and national interest.” 

He warned that the nuclear submarine deal under the banner of the AUKUS security agreement between Australia, the US and Britain had already become the target of espionage attempts.

However, he said, the significance of terrorism could not be downplayed, amid an alarming rise in the radicalisation of minors.

“The number of minors being radicalised is getting higher and the age of the minors being radicalised is getting lower,” Mr Burgess said. “Most of the radicalisation occurs online, reflecting the dynamic I raised earlier, but some of it also happens in person, face to face.

“Children as young as 13 are now embracing extremism, and this is happening with religiously motivated violent extremism and ideologically motivated violent extremism. And unlike past experience, many of these young people do not come from families where a parent or sibling already holds extreme views.

“As the director-general of security, this trend is deeply concerning. As a parent, it is deeply distressing. “As a nation, we need to reflect on why some teenagers are hanging Nazi flags and portraits of the Christchurch killer on their bedroom walls, and why others are sharing beheading videos.

“Just as importantly, we must reflect on what we can do about it.”

Whereas minors represented about 2 to 3 per cent of new ­counter-terrorism investigations a few years ago, now they made up about 15 per cent, Mr Burgess said.

“At the end of last year, on average, minors represented more than half of our priority counter-terrorism investigations each week. Perhaps more disturbingly, these young people are more ­intense in their extremism.

“Where once minors tended to be on the fringe of extremist groups, we are now seeing teenagers in leadership positions, directing adults, and willing to take violent action themselves.”

Mr Burgess revealed ASIO had in 2007 conducted a threat assessment of a pandemic that had foreseen anti-government behaviour, as being played out with anti-vax protests. He warned politicians and commentators against labelling them as left or right wing. “They are a cocktail of views, fears, frustrations and conspiracies,” he said. “Individuals who hold these views, and are willing to support violence to further them, are most accurately described as ­ideologically motivated violent extremists.”