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It's a rare thing for the boss of ASIO to publicly push back at the government's political line of attack. It's rarer still for the spy chief to intervene twice in the space of 48 hours. Yet this is where we've arrived, leaving the Prime Minister's "reds under the beds" scare campaign against his opponent look, well, desperate. 

At the end of last week's internal shambles over religious discrimination, Peter Dutton flicked the switch to what he clearly believed to be more comfortable ground: national security. The Chinese Communist Party, he warned parliament, had "made a decision about who they're going to back in the next federal election. That's open. That is obvious. And they have picked this bloke, the Leader of the Opposition, as their candidate."

The newish Speaker of the House, the LNP's Andrew Wallace (who's still finding his feet), let it go at the time but after further consideration, returned to the chair on Monday to declare Dutton's remarks were "not in order" and should not be repeated.

The more serious rebuke came from the Director-General of ASIO, Mike Burgess. He had inadvertently triggered the latest reds under the beds scare when he delivered his annual "threat assessment" last week.

Burgess, who has sought to move ASIO out of the shadows, used the speech to remind parties, candidates and the public about the nature and threat of foreign interference. He revealed his agency had disrupted a plot involving a wealthy "puppeteer" deeply connected to a foreign power who was targeting potential candidates ahead of an election.

The ASIO boss avoided naming the foreign power or the political party being targeted. It didn't take long for the Sydney Morning Herald to reveal both: China and the ALP. 

Cue Dutton. Anthony Albanese was "China's pick", he again warned. "From what I see, both open source and other intelligence I see, it's a statement of the obvious," Dutton told the ABC's Patricia Karvelas. Apparently, the long-standing position of not commenting on intelligence information doesn't apply when an election looms and the government is 10 points behind.

This left Burgess in an awkward position. Appearing before a Senate estimates hearing on Monday night, he sought to clear things up. "Attempts at political interference are not confined to one side of politics," he said. The ASIO boss had spoken to Albanese and confirmed his agency had no concern about any of Labor's candidates. Individuals who were targeted by the "puppeteer" had no idea about the plot, which was ultimately disrupted.

Burgess could have left it there. He didn't. The ASIO boss went on to deliver three pointed messages.

First came the blunt warning to assembled Senators and anyone else in the ministerial wing who may be listening: "ASIO is not here to be politicised. It should not be."

Second, Burgess defended his decision to raise awareness of foreign interference by publicly airing examples like the "puppeteer" case: "There may be people — officials or members of parliament or ministers — who choose to misuse that. That's a risk. Any misuse is a matter for them to answer to, not me." Misuse indeed.

Third, Burgess expressed concern as to where such politicisation and weaponisation can lead: "It is critical we do not let fear of foreign interference undermine stakeholder engagement or stoke community division." 

In other words, he doesn't want politicians to avoid engaging with the Chinese Australian community altogether for fear of being labelled "China's pick" in a political hit-job. Were this to happen, he said, "it would perversely have the same corrosive impact on our democracy as foreign interference itself".

READ MORE:

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-02-17/china-scare-campaign-morrison-play-national-interest-australia/100837080

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