The Australian Federal Police (AFP) is warning foreign interference and espionage is on the rise in the country’s ethnic communities and expressed concern that disinformation could impact Australia’s upcoming election.
Reece Kershaw, AFP commissioner, outlined activities the law enforcement agency had undertaken over the past year in a hearing before the Senate Legal and Constitutional Affairs Legislation Committee.
“The AFP is aware of increased espionage and foreign interference threats,” he added. “In the past 18 months, the Counter Foreign Interference Taskforce has achieved a number of successful disruptions, most significantly in relation to democratic institutions.”
![AFP Commissioner Reece Kershaw speaks to the media in Sydney, Australia, on June 08, 2021. (Mark Evans/Getty Images)](/_next/image?url=https%3A%2F%2Fimg.theepochtimes.com%2Fassets%2Fuploads%2F2022%2F02%2F14%2FGettyImages-1322423528-525x350.jpg&w=1200&q=75)
“A priority continues to be the development of national arrangements to identify and respond to interference against diaspora communities in Australia,” he said.
The police chief said segments of these communities—deemed to be dissidents by authoritarian states—face monitoring and harassment to silence them from speaking out and criticising overseas governments or regimes.
“Foreign interference is an insidious and resource-intensive crime, and one that I expect will continue to grow and converge with other crime types in Australia,” Kershaw warned. He was confident, however, that the AFP and other security apparatus had the expertise to tackle potential offenders.
It was later alleged that the state-actor in question was the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and the political party being targeted was the Australian Labor Party’s (ALP) candidates in New South Wales.
Meanwhile, Kershaw expressed concern over the “prevalence of disinformation” surrounding the build-up to this year’s federal election, which is due before May 2022.
“Where disinformation reaches a criminal threshold—particularly where it urges or advocates violence—the AFP will be exercising the full force of its powers.”
The police chief cited the arrest and charge of a Sydney man responsible for sending over 23 million messages during two by-elections—the 2019 Wentworth by-election and 2020 Eden-Monaro.