Three sources present at the meeting - which was attended by deputy chair Mr Byrne,Intelligence Committee Chairman Andrew Hastie and Foreign Affairs Committee Chair David Fawcett - said Mr Raab was told directly the Australians were very disappointed by the decision. The sources spoke on the condition of anonymity because the meeting was confidential.
"How would you feel if the Russians laid down infrastructure in your own networks? That's how we feel about Huawei,"Mr Byrne told Raab,according to sources in the room. Mr Byrne became frustrated when Mr Raab said the decision to approve Huawei was"difficult"but"technical"and"not political."
Mr Byrne,who has a long-standing relationship with Australia's intelligence agencies,responded by telling Mr Raab that British spies were"flat-out wrong"to say Huawei can supply 5G equipment and not pose a threat to national security,according to the sources. Mr Byrne added that this determination went against the assessments of Australian and US agencies.
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"He basically said:'I'll raise you my ASD[Australian Signals Directorate] against your GCHQ[Government Communications Headquarters]',"a source in the room said.
Byrne described the issue of China as an"existential"one for Australia,according to a source. He argued Australia had never before been in the position where its largest trading partner was also its biggest"security threat".
The Trump administration has lobbied its “five eyes” intelligence-sharing allies - which includes Britain,Australia,Canada and New Zealand - to rebuff Huawei,arguing the telco works closely with Beijing. However,sources said Mr Raab implied Washington accepted the UK deal because the"technicalities"had been tested with the United States.