ASIO director-general Mike Burgess says “people have chosen to distort” comments he made about Palestinians fleeing Gaza last month.
ASIO boss Mike Burgess has found himself ensnared in the political dispute over security screening of refugees.
The Coalition is escalating a rare dispute with the nation’s spy chief over Palestinian refugees after a day when Anthony Albanese slammed Peter Dutton’s “20 years of form” on criticising migrants.
Palestinian advocates are growing impatient with the government over delays in establishing a permanent visa scheme for people fleeing the war in Gaza.
ASIO boss Mike Burgess said there was a difference between Palestinians who provided financial support to Hamas and those who expressed rhetorical support.
Positive political role models like Tim Walz are important. He shows young men that they have nothing to fear by giving things to women – be they tampons or just some basic respect.
Tensions triggered by the war in Gaza,which Australian intelligence officials say played a significant role in the new threat assessment,are ratcheting up the temperature.
The spy agency has raised the national threat level to “probable” after eight recent alleged terrorist incidents in Australia and difficult-to-define ideological threats.
Kira Korolev,40,and her 62-year-old husband,Igor Korolev,are accused of using her defence force account to spy for Russia since December 2022.
Australians with Iranian,Chinese,Cambodian,Rwandan and Indian backgrounds have reported foreign agents harassing and assaulting them on local soil.
Australian authorities expelled two Indian intelligence operatives in 2020 for being members of an elaborate “nest of spies”.