A top Australian intelligence chief has vowed to counter any attempts by other countries to interfere in the upcoming federal election after revealing a “recent” meddling plot had been disrupted.
The head of the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation, Mike Burgess, on Wednesday night issued a plea to Australians not to allow the fear of foreign interference to “stoke community division” – otherwise it would have “the same corrosive impact on our democracy as foreign interference itself”.
When asked about potential meddling in the federal election due by May, Burgess said he could not talk about current operational matters “but of course foreign interference is an increasing concern”.
Australia had a robust democracy, he said, and the issue was being monitored by an electoral integrity taskforce bringing together the Australian Electoral Commission and security agencies: “I’m confident we can deal with it well.”
Burgess took questions from the media after using his third annual threat assessment speech to disclose that Asio had “recently detected and disrupted a foreign interference plot in the lead-up to an election in Australia”.
He was vague when describing the election targeted – such as whether it was a state or territory poll – and nor did he say which country was believed responsible.
He simply noted that Australia was “seeing attempts at foreign interference at all levels of government, in all states and territories”.
Burgess said the case “involved a wealthy individual who maintained direct and deep connections with a foreign government and its intelligence agencies”.
The goal, he said, was “secretly shaping the jurisdiction’s political scene to benefit the foreign power”.
“The puppeteer hired a person to enable foreign interference operations and used an offshore bank account to provide hundreds of thousands of dollars for operating expenses,” Burgess told a gathering of parliamentarians, senior police, defence and other intelligence agency chiefs and foreign diplomats.
The employee, he said, “began identifying candidates likely to run in the election who either supported the interests of the foreign government or who were assessed as vulnerable to inducements and cultivation”.
Burgess said the puppeteer and the employee had “plotted ways of advancing the candidates’ political prospects through generous support, placing favourable stories in foreign language news platforms and providing other forms of assistance”.
While the puppeteer “pulled the strings, the foreign government called the shots”. But the political candidates had no knowledge of the plot, he said.
Burgess speculated that, if the plot were left undetected, some of the candidates might have won election. They may have been urged to hire certain associates as political staffers who could eventually feed information to the foreign government about the party’s positions on sensitive issues.
“At some point, the politicians might be prevailed upon to vote a particular way on a contentious issue, or lobby colleagues to vote a certain way.”
In this case, the harm was avoided, Burgess said. “The election was not interfered with. Our elections remain secure.”
Asked what he meant by not allowing the fear of foreign interference to corrode society, Burgess said politicians should not avoid engaging with diaspora communities altogether.
“Sadly, we’ve seen people do that,” he said. “We’re just saying exercise good judgment.”
Burgess said politicians should ask good questions when offered campaign and staffing support and exercise due diligence.
In broader remarks, he said thousands of Australians with access to sensitive information had been “targeted by foreign spies using social media profiles” over the past two years.
Asio was also “tracking suspicious approaches on dating platforms such as Tinder, Bumble and Hinge”.
Asked to elaborate, Burgess in some cases foreign spies had gained an understanding of a “vulnerability” and they would “target that vulnerability”. He urged users of such apps to be mindful that “if it seems too good to be true, it probably is”.
Experts have previously warned that the deterioration in the relationship between China and Australia has led to “increased scrutiny on Australians of Chinese background”. Reports have also pointed to an increase in abusive and racist incidents.
Labor has previously accused the government of failing to make clear which agency was responsible for managing the risk of foreign interference during elections, meaning critical decisions might be made “on the run”.
The AEC last month urged social media companies to commit to taking down unauthorised political material in agreed timeframes to combat misinformation in elections.
The electoral commissioner, Tom Rogers, also said any misinformation about the result of the federal election “would be not only be disappointing [but] outrageous”, insisting Australia had one of the most transparent and fair election processes in the world.
