Shocked? Spy revelation no surprise to those paying attention

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The ASIO boss’ intervention has kickstarted the debate about how Australia handles China’s intensifying covert activities.

described a years-old case of an unnamed politician turned traitor is that anyone in Canberra was actually shocked.

This policy, spoken and unspoken, is either craven and misguided or reasoned and sensible, depending on who you ask. Whatever you think, not calling out China undermines the quality of debate we can have about whether our political system and laws are working to deal with the source of our most serious security threat.

Burgess’ unnamed politician isn’t a shocking aberration needing to be named and shamed. It is merely a historical case study to illustrate just how close the MSS has at times got to reshaping parts of our democracy thanks to the greed, ego, stupidity or naivety of a small but still troubling number of ex-political figures.

Our system has toughened up since Huang was expelled from Australia. Previous public debate, media exposés, ASIO’s work, and the Turnbull government’s decision to introduce new foreign interference and espionage laws in 2018 have all played a part.

 

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