{"id":261751,"date":"2025-11-04T10:32:11","date_gmt":"2025-11-04T10:32:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/261751\/"},"modified":"2025-11-04T10:32:11","modified_gmt":"2025-11-04T10:32:11","slug":"at-least-three-nations-willing-to-kill-on-australian-soil-spy-chief-says","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/261751\/","title":{"rendered":"At least three nations ‘willing to kill’ on Australian soil, spy chief says"},"content":{"rendered":"

The nation’s top spy has used a major speech to warn there is a “realistic possibility” a foreign government will try to assassinate a dissident on Australian soil, saying ASIO believes “at least three” nations are willing and capable of carrying out such a plot.<\/p>\n

Australian Security Intelligence Organisation director-general Mike Burgess used the 2025 Lowy Lecture to reveal how a foreign intelligence service attempted to use an Australian citizen to secretly pass information offshore.<\/p>\n

He also issued a warning about how hostile foreign governments were targeting Australia’s social cohesion, critical infrastructure and defence secrets.<\/p>\n

Mr Burgess warned some nations wanted to “exploit fault lines in countries they consider hostile” \u2014 pointing to Iran’s foreign interference plot where it hired local criminals to carry out arson attacks<\/a> on Jewish businesses and places of worship \u2014 saying some authoritarian regimes were showing a “growing willingness” to attempt “high-harm operations” in Australia.<\/p>\n

“We believe there are at least three nations willing and capable of conducting lethal targeting here,” he said in his Lowy Institute address.<\/p>\n

“It is entirely possible the regimes would try to hide their involvement by hiring criminal cut outs, as Iran did when directing its arson attacks.”<\/p>\n

\"Roses<\/p>\n

Iran has directed anti-Semitic attacks against Australia. (ABC News: Costa Haritos)<\/p>\n

Foreign spies attempted to recruit Australians for AUKUS intelligence<\/p>\n

Mr Burgess said ASIO had uncovered an attempt by a foreign spy service to recruit Australians and obtain inside information on the economy, critical minerals and the $368 billion AUKUS submarine program.<\/p>\n

“Reflecting ASIO’s success in making Australia an unwelcome environment for espionage, the foreign intelligence service arranged for an Australian to travel by plane and then boat to a third country for a face-to-face meeting,” he said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

“The spies wanted to hand over a list of their intelligence requirements \u2014 the people and things they wanted spied on.\u00a0<\/p>\n

“Inside information on Australia’s economy, critical minerals and AUKUS were high on the list. Little did they know ASIO was tracking and manipulating their entire activity.”<\/p>\n

Mr Burgess said foreign regimes were becoming increasingly reckless in their efforts to interfere, citing Iran’s foreign interference plot and Russia’s use of disinformation to inflame division.<\/p>\n

“Regimes are operating in a security grey zone \u2026 using non-traditional tools to interfere in decision-making, promote discord, amplify distrust and spread false narratives in Western democracies,” he said.<\/p>\n

Artificial intelligence accelerating ‘fraying’ social fabric<\/p>\n

The director-general warned that Australia’s “social fabric is fraying \u2014 fraying in ways we have never experienced before”, driven by disinformation, conspiracy theories and deliberate foreign manipulation.\u00a0<\/p>\n

“Community cohesion remains a great blessing, but it is under siege, under threat, under attack. This is not an accident.”<\/p>\n

He pointed the finger specifically at Moscow, arguing Russian-backed operatives were deliberately pushing online narratives to “try to hijack and inflame legitimate debate” and “justify the invasion of Ukraine”.<\/p>\n

New AFP boss warns hate crime laws may need to be strengthened further<\/a><\/p>\n

In a wide-ranging interview as she begins as AFP commissioner, Krissy Barrett announces a new sub-terror strike force, and flags that newly written hate crime laws may need to be strengthened further.<\/p>\n

“They use social media to spread vitriolic, polarising commentary on anti-immigration protests and pro-Palestinian marches,” he said.<\/p>\n

Mr Burgess said ASIO had identified three groups as responsible for undermining that cohesion: “The aggrieved, the opportunistic, and the cunning.”<\/p>\n

The first are individuals driven by grievance and frustration; the second are extremist organisations that exploit social fractures; and the third are nation states deliberately working to inflame and divide societies.<\/p>\n

Mr Burgess said extremist groups were becoming more sophisticated at manipulating public anger and exploiting protests to recruit and radicalise followers.<\/p>\n

He singled out the far-right National Socialist Network and the religious organisation Hizb ut Tahrir as examples of groups using public events and online rhetoric to “test the limits of legality” while fuelling division.<\/p>\n

He also warned that advances in artificial intelligence were accelerating these dynamics.\u00a0<\/p>\n

“In terms of social cohesion, the internet is the greatest incubator of grievance narratives and conspiracy theories,” he said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

“While the internet incubates, social media accelerates. And while the internet incubates and social media accelerates, artificial intelligence exacerbates.\u00a0<\/p>\n

“You will not be surprised to know I am deeply concerned about the potential for AI to take online radicalisation and disinformation to entirely new levels.”<\/p>\n

He argues the convergence of online extremism, foreign interference and technological manipulation has created “a domestic security environment with an unprecedented number of challenges and an unprecedented cumulative level of potential harm”.<\/p>\n

ASIO’s guarded optimism<\/p>\n

Despite the stark warnings, Mr Burgess said Australia remained resilient, and its security agencies were acutely aware of the threat.\u00a0<\/p>\n

“Please note I said, ‘attempt to assassinate,'” he said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

“ASIO and our law enforcement partners are acutely alive to this threat and are working around the clock, using all our powers, to protect Australia and Australians.”<\/p>\n

He urged Australians to resist polarisation and play a role in protecting the nation’s stability.\u00a0<\/p>\n

“You cannot spy your way to greater cohesion or arrest your way to fewer grievances,” he said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

“Every one of us has a role to play. Our words matter, our decisions matter, our actions matter.”<\/p>\n

Mr Burgess concluded on a note of guarded optimism.\u00a0<\/p>\n

“While the threats and challenges facing us are significant, they are not insurmountable,” he said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

“We should not be defeatist or insecure about our security. We can and should have confidence in our ability to respond.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The nation’s top spy has used a major speech to warn there is a “realistic possibility” a foreign…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":261752,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[31945,93723,64,3402,63,153728,31947,109570,31946,44],"class_list":{"0":"post-261751","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-australia","8":"tag-asio","9":"tag-assassination","10":"tag-au","11":"tag-aukus","12":"tag-australia","13":"tag-australian-security-intelligence-organisation","14":"tag-foreign-interference","15":"tag-lowy-institute","16":"tag-mike-burgess","17":"tag-news"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/261751","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=261751"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/261751\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/261752"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=261751"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=261751"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=261751"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}