Top Spy Chiefs Axed From Peak Security Body Ahead of CCP Foreign Minister’s Visit

Australian Security Intelligence Organisation (ASIO) Director General Mike Burgess poses for a portrait ahead of his annual threat assessment speech at ASIO headquarters in Canberra, Australia on Feb. 28, 2024. AAP Image/Mick Tsikas

The centre-left Labor government has removed the bosses of Australia’s domestic and foreign spy agencies from their permanent roles in the National Security Committee (NSC), a decision that could impact the effectiveness of the country’s intelligence services.

Mike Burgess, director-general of the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation (ASIO) since 2019, had consistently raised alarm bells about the threat of foreign interference and espionage.

Revelations of the contentious move came just two days before Beijing’s foreign minister, Wang Yi, visited Australia for the first time in seven years.

Labor Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has also formally invited Beijing’s Premier Li Qiang to come to Canberra later this year.

It comes amid a high-profile diplomatic push for rapprochement with Beijing. The regime had imposed a series of trade bans on Australia in retaliation against the former Coalition government’s support for an independent COVID-19 probe.

The Albanese government has yet to comment on its latest decision around the NSC.

Mr. Burgess and Kerri Hartland, head of the Australian Secret Intelligence Service (ASIS), were permanent NSC members responsible for briefing and providing classified advice for the attorney-general on all major security issues. However, their roles were reduced to briefing the committee on a case-by-case basis, Sky News Australia reported.

The NSC is the peak body for making decisions on the high-priority and high-risk national security matters of the day, and includes members of the government cabinet and the heads of Australia’s intelligence services.

The removal came from an official order from the Secretary of the Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet Glyn Davis.

Differing Positions on Beijing

A clash of interests between these powerful figures could be identified in their stance on the issue of foreign interference.

In 2014, Mr. Davis, the country’s most senior civil servant, was a key decision-maker who renegotiated the University of Melbourne’s contract with the CCP-backed Confucius Institute, which was described by former PM Tony Abbott as “essentially propaganda centres.”

In a letter to Hanban, the Beijing-based Confucius Institute headquarters, Mr. Davis reportedly wrote that the university was “very happy to confirm” that the agreement between the two organisations would be maintained.

Meanwhile, in a speech in 2018, Mr. Davis also downplayed concerns about Chinese international students shutting down free debate on Australian campuses, such as pressuring academics to change class material that did not abide by the CCP’s narratives.

This was despite numerous reports about students and academics being harassed by pro-communist Chinese students during the Hong Kong pro-democracy movement.

Mr. Davis, who has visited China multiple times, in February released a review to consider cutting government funding to think tanks, including the Australian Strategic Policy Institute (ASPI), an institution Beijing has taken issue with and listed in its “14 grievances“ against the previous Australian government.

ASIO Boss Warns Of Foreign Infiltration Risks

The ASIO head, on the other hand, has been vocal about the danger of foreign interference on Australian campuses.

Mr. Burgess said in 2021 that the scale of this threat was at its highest point since the Cold War, adding that “one country, in particular, is highly active,” although he didn’t name which one.

Just in late February, Mr. Burgess revealed a former Australian federal politician had “sold out their country, party and former colleagues to advance the interests of the foreign regime.” 

In his annual threat assessment in Canberra, Mr. Burgess also declassified the case about an “aggressive and experienced” spy network—which he called “the A-team”—that focused on targeting Australians.

He noted that members of this group had “offered Australian defence industry members money in return for reports on AUKUS, submarine technology, missile systems and many other sensitive topics.”

The ASIO head added that the threat of foreign interference was “deeper and broader than you might think” with more Australians being targeted than ever before.

It was later revealed by The Sydney Morning Herald that Beijing was the force behind the spy group.

Will Security Be Compromised?

Since winning power, the Albanese Labor government has taken a notably different stance towards Beijing compared to the previous Liberal-National governments.

This was highlighted in the Labor government’s response to provocative moves from Beijing in late 2023, which saw a Chinese vessel using active sonar to harass Australian navy divers who were clearing fishing nets in international waters.

The Australian diver sustained minor injuries due to exposure to sonar pulses, which could have been fatal in other circumstances.

The Albanese government kept the incident private for four days before releasing a statement denouncing the “unsafe and unprofessional conduct.”

Senator Claire Chandler criticised the response as “weak” and accused the prime minister of “failing to stand up for our defence personnel.”

In the same week, Mr. Albanese hailed his government’s effort to improve relations with the communist regime, saying that Beijing would remove the remaining trade blocks by 2024. He also shook hands with Chinese Leader Xi Jinping in San Francisco a few days after the sonar attack occurred, but didn’t reveal whether he raised the incident with Mr. Xi.

In an earlier development, the Labor government announced—while citing the advice of several other government departments—that it would not tear up Beijing’s 99-year lease on the Port of Darwin in the Northern Territory.

The government said at the time that there was a “robust regulatory system in place to manage risks.”

However former Defence Minister Kevin Andrews argued that the decision posed a risk to the country’s security.

“It is well established that the CCP regards all companies and institutions in China with both a civil and military purpose.”

Another expert also warned that the centre-left government was “always be weaker when it comes to China.”

“And as long as Labor has a close arrangement with the Greens they will always have trouble being as close to America as the Liberal Coalition would like us to be,” history lecturer and author Stephen Chavura told Sky News in January.

Some members in the Left factions of the Labor Party have downplayed the strategic significance of acquiring nuclear submarines under the AUKUS deal, and instead were worried about how the agreement could drain money from Labor’s focus on health, education, and welfare.