Senate committee urges help for migrants to dob in foreign agents

A parliamentary committee has called for the government to make it easier for immigrant communities to report foreign agents who threaten and seek to co-opt them

Labor Senator Kimberley Kitching says some Chinese-Australian witnesses to the committee she chairs did not feel safe enough to give evidence in open hearings. Picture: AAP

A parliamentary committee has called for the government to make it easier for immigrant communities to dob in foreign agents who threaten and seek to co-opt them in foreign interference schemes.

The Senate’s inquiry on issues facing diaspora communities also urged the government to implement targeted “Magnitsky”-style sanctions to address human rights abuse, and called for a “new and comprehensive national anti-racism framework”.

The Senate inquiry heard “extremely troubling” evidence that foreign powers were targeting diaspora communities through “surveillance, monitoring and harassment”, threats against overseas-based family members, and disinformation through ethnic media outlets.

Committee chair Kimberley Kitching said some Chinese-Australian witnesses to the committee felt so threatened they did not feel safe enough to give evidence in open hearings.

“I don’t think we can avoid naming the regime which causes such fear and anxiety, that threatens their fellow human beings: the Chinese Communist Party,” she said.

The committee’s report said the National Security Hotline, which has been promoted as a way to report terror threats, should also be used to tip-off intelligence agencies to potential acts of foreign interference.

“The committee believes it would be of benefit to have an information and awareness campaign around this means of reporting foreign interference and to involve peak groups,” the Senate’s Foreign Affairs, Defence and Trade References Committee said in its final report tabled on Thursday.

Despite reports from government agencies of close co-operation with diaspora groups, the committee expressed concern that some groups were uncertain about how to report foreign interference threats, and “did not receive feedback about any actions underway”.

“The committee sees value in government agencies reviewing the effectiveness of their community engagement around foreign interference on an ongoing basis to ensure there is genuine two-way communication,” it said.

The committee heard evidence that Magnitsky-style sanctions, which would allow Australia to strip assets and ban entry to individual human rights abusers, could be used to deter foreign interference.

It said legislation to implement such sanctions, which are being considered by another Senate inquiry, should “be brought forward by the government as soon as possible”.

The committee said racism and discrimination could seriously damage social cohesion, and expressed alarm at an apparent increase in anti-Chinese sentiment in Australia following the COVID-19 pandemic.

It backed calls for a new national anti-racism strategy, saying previous campaigns had “lost government funding and momentum”.

“In light of what appears to be increased incidents of racism during COVID-19 pandemic, the committee sees value in reinvigorating that National Anti-Racism Strategy and campaign as a matter of urgency,” the committee said.