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Australian secret agents5/16/2023 ![]() ![]() 'The puppeteer and the employee 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.'ĪSIO recently detected and disrupted a foreign interference plot in the lead-up to an election in Australia (pictured, Brisbane City Council elections in May 2020) The person used relationships with politicians, staffers and journalists to select potential targets. The employee identified candidates likely to run in the election who either supported the interests of the foreign government or who were assessed as vulnerable to inducement. It was like a foreign interference start-up.' 'Secretly shaping the jurisdiction's political scene to benefit the foreign power was considered a key performance indicator. '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,' Mr Burgess said. ![]() The case involved a wealthy person - described as the 'puppeteer' - who had 'direct and deep connections with a foreign government and its intelligence agencies'. Mr Burgess said the new submarine deal coupled with an upcoming federal election this year means its more important than ever to be on guard against foreign political interference.ĪSIO recently detected and disrupted a foreign interference plot in the lead-up to an election in Australia, but Mr Burgess declined to reveal which state or territory it related to. He noted the AUKUS security arrangement with the US and Britain signed last year was of strong interest to foreign intelligence agencies. Mr Burgess said while terrorism remained a key threat, espionage and foreign interference - sometimes by 'friends with sharp elbows' - were the agency's main security concern. 'As a sting in the tail, after we removed the spies, we laid trip wires just in case the foreign country ever tries to reactivate this network.' 'Australians who were targeted by the foreign intelligence service included current and former high-ranking government officials, academics, members of think-tanks, business executives and members of a diaspora community,' Mr Burgess said.
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