Russian-born Australian couple charged with espionage: Security vetting in question amid spy allegations

Did Kira and Igor Korolev move to Australia a decade ago as part of a long-term Russian plan to spy on Australia?

The stunning spy allegations against two Russian-born Australians read like a plot of a TV thriller and represent the dawn of a new era for the nation’s intelligence agencies.

The prospect that Russia may have planted sleeper agents to live among us – an idea popularised by the hit TV show The Americans – will shock everyday Australians.

The bringing of charges over the alleged espionage plot in suburban Brisbane is a credit to ASIO and the Australian Federal Police.

It marks the first-ever use of new espionage laws introduced five years ago, and comes amid surging efforts by foreign spies to gain access to classified information.

But many questions remain unanswered. Chief among them – did Kira and Igor Korolev move to Australia a decade ago as part of a long-term Russian plan to spy on Australia? Or will it be alleged they were turned by a Russian agent after they arrived?

Police are yet to say. But ASIO director-general Mike Burgess hinted the plot may have been years in the making, saying foreign intelligence services “play the long game”.

It remains to be seen whether any sensitive material was actually handed to the Russians, although Burgess suggested the authorities had been “able to control this”.

Australians will also rightly ask, if Kira Korolev is a spy, how did she manage to get through the Australian Defence Force’s security vetting processes to take up a job as an information systems technician?

Kira Korolev was listed to appear in Brisbane Magistrates Court today after they were arrested as part of a complex investigation involving the Australian Federal Police and ASIO. Photo: Facebook

Australia needs effective security vetting processes to protect the nation’s secrets and those of our allies. The need to weed out human security threats is even more onerous considering the US and UK are preparing to share nuclear submarine technology with Australia.

But time and again, the commonwealth’s security vetting processes have been called into question.

In fact, in a report released on Thursday, the Australian National Audit Office revealed serious problems with the Defence-run myClearance system to vet commonwealth officers going into sensitive roles.

It found Defence’s management of the system fell short of expectations, that risks were not resolved quickly enough, and there was no system in place to monitor and review the activities of privileged users.

Past audits have raised similar concerns.

It’s yet to be revealed what level security clearance Ms Korolev had, but the vetting process is supposed to assess character traits including honesty, trustworthiness, maturity and loyalty.

Anything above a baseline clearance requires checks on an applicant’s movements and relationships over the preceding decade. Did Korolev’s Russian connections not trigger alarm bells?

If the charges against the Korolev’s are borne out, it will mean the system has spectacularly failed. Which raises another obvious question – how many more spies could have beaten the tests?

As Burgess said in his annual threat assessment in February warned – yet again – that foreign spies were active on Australian soil.

“When we see more Australians being targeted for espionage and foreign interference than ever before, we have a responsibility to call it out,” he said.

“Australians need to know that the threat is real. The threat is now. And the threat is deeper and broader than you might think.”

This shouldn’t surprise anyone, given the state of the world and the military, economic and technological advantages nations can gain from such activities. But recognising the threat and protecting against it are two different things.

As a close US ally and a member of the West’s Five Eyes intelligence sharing network, the Australian government holds deeply classified secrets, and could potentially provide a gateway to those of our closest partners.

Given the latest allegations, and the identified deficiencies of Australia’s vetting processes, the government has a major task ahead to harden the system up.