Speaker 1: From Schwartz Media on Daniel James, this is seven am.
Speaker 1: Australia is under threat and has never faced so many
Speaker 1: different threats at once. That was the message from Director
Speaker 1: General of ASIO Mirk Burgess, when he gave his annual
Speaker 1: Threat assessment on Wednesday night. Asier's work is usually classified,
Speaker 1: but Burgess has taken the extraordinary step of revealing some
Speaker 1: of the intelligence that is let him to sound the warning.
Speaker 1: According to Burgess, spionage and foreign interference are at extreme
Speaker 1: levels and just last year AZIO foiled five attempted terror
Speaker 1: attacks on Australian soil. Today, special correspondent for the Saturday Paper,
Speaker 1: Jason gotsukis on why the national terror threat level is
Speaker 1: probable and why it won't be going down anytime soon.
Speaker 1: It's Friday twenty one. Jason. You're at the speech given
Speaker 1: by the Director General of AS Mike Burgess where he
Speaker 1: laid out the security situation in Australia right now. Can
Speaker 1: you tell me what was like to be in the room,
Speaker 1: who was there and how significant this address was?
Speaker 2: Absolutely? I think Daniel that other than the federal budget,
Speaker 2: I think this Annual Threat Assessment speech delivered by Mike
Speaker 2: Burgess has become one of the marquee annual events in Canberra.
Speaker 2: It's certainly the night of Knights for Australia's intelligence community.
Speaker 3: Welcome to the ben Chiefly Building, Welcome to ASIO, and
Speaker 3: welcome to my annual Threat Assessment.
Speaker 2: Australian Signals Directorate, the Australian Secret Intelligence Service, the Defense
Speaker 2: Intelligence Organization, they all send representatives to this event.
Speaker 3: The Attorney General, the Honorable Mark drefuskc Chair, Deputy Chair,
Speaker 3: and committee members of the Parliamentary Committee on Intelligence Security, Directors,
Speaker 3: General Inspector General CDs.
Speaker 2: And perhaps most surprising of all last night was that
Speaker 2: the Chinese ambassador was not only was he invited, but
Speaker 2: he accepted that invitation and he was placed front and
Speaker 2: center of the audience, and he was placed in a
Speaker 2: position where the television cameras couldn't miss him. So it's
Speaker 2: interesting that Mike Burgess is sending a message by the
Speaker 2: kinds of people that he's invited, and it just underscores
Speaker 2: the fact that this is a very highly choreographed event
Speaker 2: and that Mike Burgess, the Director General EVASIO, he's someone
Speaker 2: who not only understands how the media works, but how
Speaker 2: to get the media to work. To his advantage, and
Speaker 2: I think that's a really interesting aspect to his leadership.
Speaker 1: And there was a lot of news in his speech,
Speaker 1: things like the terror level threat will be remaining at
Speaker 1: probable and that it won't be going down anytime soon,
Speaker 1: that Australia is under attack in all different ways, and
Speaker 1: that ASIO has foiled five terror plots on Australian soil
Speaker 1: just in the past year. So can you tell me
Speaker 1: what we know about these attempted attacks and how they
Speaker 1: are different from what we've seen in the past.
Speaker 2: Well, you know, one of the most alarming things that
Speaker 2: struck me about this speech was that there's been such
Speaker 2: a significant shift in the types of people likely to
Speaker 2: commit an attack. So we're still seeing religiously motivated violent extremism,
Speaker 2: but it's not the majority. So whereas you know, perhaps
Speaker 2: ten years ago, we were seeing groups like ISIL, ISIS
Speaker 2: and al Qaeda inspiring direct attacks here, now extremists tend
Speaker 2: to be much more self radicalizing.
Speaker 3: Now the most likely perpetrator of a terrorist attack is
Speaker 3: a lone actor from a family previously unconnected to extremism.
Speaker 2: And I think what really stood out for me from
Speaker 2: the speech that the majority of threats are coming from
Speaker 2: racist nationalist extremists who are trying to mainstream their beliefs
Speaker 2: and expand their movement, and they're doing this by very provocative,
Speaker 2: offensive and high profile stunts. According to Mike Burgess, the
Speaker 2: greatest threat of violence come from individuals on the periphery
Speaker 2: of these organized groups. And another thing that was that
Speaker 2: is very striking about the nature of the threats that
Speaker 2: we face is that a lot of the potential threat
Speaker 2: actors are much younger people than we've seen in the past.
Speaker 1: So how young are we talking here?
Speaker 2: Joce Mike Burgers said that the median age at which
Speaker 2: miner is a first subject to ASIO investigation is now fifteen,
Speaker 2: which is pretty alarming when you think about it.
Speaker 3: Many of the recent cases we've dealt with are as
Speaker 3: sad and sobering as they are shocking.
Speaker 2: And Mike Burgess rattled off the types of things that
Speaker 2: are getting young people noticed by ASIO.
Speaker 3: Mine is allegedly sharing beheading video in the school yard,
Speaker 3: a twelve year old allegedly wanting to blow up a
Speaker 3: place of worship, a seventeen year old watching Nazi propaganda
Speaker 3: and klu Klux clan videos and scrawling gas the Jews
Speaker 3: on the wall of the classroom.
Speaker 2: And according to Mike Burgess, these people are cherry picking ideologies.
Speaker 3: Traditional distinctions between extremists motivations are breaking down. Individuals are
Speaker 3: cherry picking seemingly antithetical ideologies to create new hybrid beliefs.
Speaker 2: I just talked about one person being motivated by Islamic
Speaker 2: state propaganda and neo Nazi propaganda. Another person allegedly described
Speaker 2: himself as a left wing environmentalist aligned with Adolph Hitler.
Speaker 2: Yet another person apparently considered himself to be a radical
Speaker 2: communist anarchist while allegedly embracing nationalist and racist violent extremism.
Speaker 2: So all types of views and that's increasing and will
Speaker 2: only be exacerbated by the online landscape going forward. Mike
Speaker 2: Burgers added that the impacts of social media, mental health,
Speaker 2: the spread of misinformation and conspiracy theories, ubiquitous data encryption,
Speaker 2: growing grievance, and the radicalization of miners are all things
Speaker 2: that are swirling out there and making Australia's response to
Speaker 2: security threats more complex.
Speaker 1: After the break, how foreign governments are trying to sabotage
Speaker 1: aucas Jason Beyond radicalized young people, Mike Burgess also talked
Speaker 1: about the threat we face in Australia from other countries.
Speaker 1: Can you talk to me about some of the ways
Speaker 1: we know foreign governments in a fear here in Australia.
Speaker 2: Perhaps one of the most interesting things that Mike Burgers
Speaker 2: said last night was that if the spy game has
Speaker 2: a rule book, it's been rewritten. We're seeing a small
Speaker 2: number of authoritarian regimes behaving much more aggressively, much more recklessly,
Speaker 2: more dangerously and more willing to engage in what Mike
Speaker 2: Burgess called high harm activities here in Australia.
Speaker 3: Australia's defense system will face greater threats from espionage, foreign
Speaker 3: interference and potentially sabotage over the next five years. Multiple
Speaker 3: countries are relentlessly seeking information about our military capabilities.
Speaker 2: He cited an example of defense personnel being given gifts
Speaker 2: by their international counterparts.
Speaker 3: The presence contained concealed surveillance devices.
Speaker 2: Mike Burgess also talked about orchis and how this has
Speaker 2: really become a big lure for foreign intelligence agencies. Everything
Speaker 2: about the subs, all of that very sensitive technology is
Speaker 2: information that foreign governments are desperate to get access to.
Speaker 2: They're trying to hack into our systems, get access to
Speaker 2: those very sensitive secrets. Foreign governments are also picking up
Speaker 2: on the fact that HAWCAS is not really overwhelmingly popular
Speaker 2: in a lot of sections of the community, and that
Speaker 2: as we move towards twenty thirty, as the submarine project matures,
Speaker 2: we can expect foreign intelligent services to try to exploit
Speaker 2: that and even potentially sabotage the whole enterprise if tensions escalate.
Speaker 1: And how are foreign governments tapping into diaspora communities, what
Speaker 1: impact is that Having.
Speaker 2: Mike Burgess talked about this thing, which he calls coerced.
Speaker 3: Repatriations, coerce repatriations can contribute to a culture of fear
Speaker 3: within the diaspora, reinforcing the perception that a hostile foreign
Speaker 3: government's reach extends across the Australian border.
Speaker 2: So in a coerced attempt to repatriate someone, the foreign
Speaker 2: government applies so much pressure the victim believes that they
Speaker 2: have noel alternative but to leave Australia, irrespective of the consequence. Now,
Speaker 2: these tactics include trying to strong arm people to report
Speaker 2: on other members of the dousper community. There are threatening
Speaker 2: perceived dissidents and their family members with violence.
Speaker 3: If you're being pressured, I strongly urge you to contact
Speaker 3: the National Security Hotline. I also strongly urge those complicit
Speaker 3: in these activities to reconsider their involvement. We are watching
Speaker 3: and we have zero tolerance.
Speaker 2: According to Mike Burgess, AZIO is aware of at least
Speaker 2: four countries that have plotted to use his words, this
Speaker 2: sort of despicable behavior in Australia.
Speaker 1: And beyond forcing people back to other countries, he also
Speaker 1: raised the threat of state sponsored killings.
Speaker 2: He did, and perhaps this was, you know, the most
Speaker 2: alarming part of his speech that azio investigations have identified
Speaker 2: at least three different countries plotting to physically harm people
Speaker 2: living in Australia.
Speaker 3: In one operation of foreign intellent servers wanted to silence
Speaker 3: an Australian based human rights act.
Speaker 2: And the scheme involved tricking the unsuspecting activist into visiting
Speaker 2: a third country where the plotters would be waiting and
Speaker 2: they planned to arrange an accident.
Speaker 3: They planned to arrange an accident that was anything but accidental,
Speaker 3: with the objective of seriously injuring or even killing the activist. Fortunately,
Speaker 3: Asios intervened early to stop the travel and foil the
Speaker 3: plot before it occurred.
Speaker 2: He said that more recently last year, in fact, ASIO
Speaker 2: Intelligence indicated a different hostile foreign intelligence service wanting to
Speaker 2: harm and possibly kill one or more individuals on Australian soil.
Speaker 2: But working with asio's international partners, the agency was able
Speaker 2: to determine that this was part of a broader effort
Speaker 2: by this particular regime to eliminate critics of its government
Speaker 2: around the world.
Speaker 1: And this speech, of course comes just before an election.
Speaker 1: Talk to me about the significance of that timing.
Speaker 2: So obviously, Daniel, this is a big year in Australian politics.
Speaker 2: We've got a federal election that we expect which has
Speaker 2: to be called by May seventeen. This is an event
Speaker 2: that is obviously very vulnerable to foreign interference. And Mike
Speaker 2: Burgess was at pains to point out to anyone contemplating
Speaker 2: any interference in our election process that ASIO already has
Speaker 2: offices embedded within the Australian Electoral Commission to protect the
Speaker 2: integrity of the upcoming election.
Speaker 3: If a foreign regime tries to meddle in the election
Speaker 3: by pressuring diasper groups, directing foreign language newspapers, spreading disinformation
Speaker 3: on social media, or using any other tactics sometimes scenes overseas.
Speaker 3: We will know and we will act.
Speaker 1: Consider yourself warned, he added, Jason, thank you so much
Speaker 1: for your time.
Speaker 2: Thanks Danieal.
Speaker 1: Also in the news, Prime Minister Anthony Alberanesi has announced
Speaker 1: a two point four billion dollars support package for Wyaler
Speaker 1: and its steel works. Mister Alberanesi described the joint state
Speaker 1: federal package as an investment in the nation and said
Speaker 1: there is no industry more important for our nation than
Speaker 1: steel making. Wyaler produces seventy five percent of the nation's
Speaker 1: structural steel. The steel works, which was owned by GfG
Speaker 1: Alliance and chaired by British billionaire san Jeeve Gupta, was
Speaker 1: forced into administration by the state government on Wednesday. The
Speaker 1: federal government also announced a new Green Iron Investment fund
Speaker 1: to boost green iron manufacturing and supply chains, and Australia's
Speaker 1: Refugee Community Sponsorship Program is now a permanent part of
Speaker 1: the country's humanitarian intake. The Community Refugee and Settlement Pilot
Speaker 1: CRISP welcome five hundred refugees as part of a four
Speaker 1: year experiment where local groups of volunteers took on the
Speaker 1: role of traditional settlement services. Yesterday, Assistant Minister for Citizenship
Speaker 1: and Multicultural Affairs, Julian Hill said of the experiment, quote
Speaker 1: it works. You can listen to our reporting on the scheme.
Speaker 1: The title of that episode is I have eyes, but
Speaker 1: I don't see the community groups helping refugees. Settle seven
Speaker 1: Am is a daily show from Schwartz Media and The
Speaker 1: Saturday Paper. It's made by Atticus Bastow, Shane Anderson, Chris Dangate,
Speaker 1: Eric Jensen, Ruby Jones, Sarah McFee, Travis Evans, Zoltenfacho and
Speaker 1: me Daniel James. Our theme music is by Ned Beckley
Speaker 1: and Josh Hoagan of Envelope Audio. Tomorrow, we're bringing you
Speaker 1: a bonus episode about the huge week in federal politics
Speaker 1: and when you can expect the election to be I'll
Speaker 1: catch you then at one