Australia's Top Intelligence Officer Urges Caution Over Foreign Threats To Diaspora Communities
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Australia's Senior Intelligence Officer, Mike Burgess, said on Sunday at least three or four nations, including Iran, were trying to maliciously influence the country's certain diaspora resident communities.
Speaking on ABC's Insiders, Burgess spotlighted increasing concerns about internal safety and foreign threats, noting some names might be surprising and far from expected.
"Some of them would surprise you, and some of them are also our friends," he said, ABC reported.
Burgess added the need of the hour was careful communication about national security to protect the public from growing threats and extremism.
Foreign interference and espionage pose a serious threat to internal security, Burgess acknowledged. He said Iran's involvement was particularly pointed out publicly because the federal minister had already acknowledged it.
Burgess' comments came as Australian Security Intelligence Organisation recently revealed that it had interfered with individuals conducting surveillance on an Iranian-Australian. Security agencies had also recently caught a public servant and a doctor being paid by a foreign country to silence a critic.
Meanwhile, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese declined to name other nations that were interfering, according to The Guardian.
"Our priority here isn't to get a headline. Our priority here is to keep Australians safe. First, second and third priority. Gold, silver and bronze, in the spirit of the Olympics.
"They are our priorities, and so we are careful about, I'm careful about, information that I give out being consistent with the advice that I receive from the agencies," he said.
Last month, the government said they were taking steps to stop foreign countries from interfering in Australia's affairs.
Fears of unrest in Gaza have prompted Australia to elevate its terror warning level. This year's danger of assaults is higher than last year, according to the senior intelligence officer, who also chastised Iran's envoy for remarks that may incite violence.
Ahmad Sadeghi, Iran's ambassador to Australia, said over a social media post that he hoped "wiping out the Zionist plague out of the holy lands of Palestine happens no later than 2027," following which Burgess called the comment "unacceptable."
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