The head of ASIO has revealed the former politician who “sold out Australia” was serving as an MP at the time.
Mike Burgess revealed for the first time on Wednesday night that a former politician had been caught in a spy ring, however he remained tight-lipped about his identity.
The CEO further revealed more details to SBS on Sunday saying the politician was serving as an MP at the time, but did not clarify whether he was part of the state, territory or federal parliament.
“I can understand the view that it is in the public interest (to name the person), but I don’t agree with that,” he said.
His comment comes as calls grow to reveal the former politician’s identity, with National Senator Bridget McKenzie urging Home Secretary Clare O’Neil to “use parliamentary privilege” to obtain the information.
After shocking the country on Thursday by revealing that a former politician had “sold out Australia”, spy agency chief Mike Burgess (pictured) has now revealed more details, including a possible monetary motivation.
Burgess gave insight into what might lead a politician to betray his own country, including the fact that money or coercion might be involved.
He did not want to go into the specific motivation of the case to which he refers.
“In general, motivation can be many things,” he said.
‘It could be money, it could be political beliefs. It could be that for years a foreign intelligence service has cultivated a relationship with you, created a feeling of indebtedness that makes you feel like you owe someone something.
‘It could be coercion, it could be some blackmail. There are various reasons why these things happen in general, but in particular cases, and even in the case I have shared, I will not go into details.’
Burgess said he shone a spotlight on the former politician to raise awareness about the real threat from spies, and said it was not the first time political interference had occurred.
“The most important thing, however, is that if I shared the details of who I was, they could find out how I found out who I was or how my organization did it and that is my secret source and I need to protect it,” he said.
Burgess said unmasking the former politician who betrayed the nation by aiding a foreign spy network would harm future intelligence gathering.
His revelation that a person had been blindsided led to wild speculation about who he was and what political level he was at.
ASIO had been following the activities of the foreign spy network for “less than a decade but several years”.
“If someone is looking for a political score by naming a person, I invite them to think carefully about what they are asking for,” he added.
Burgess still keeps secret which parliament (state, territory or federal) he served in. The photo shows the federal parliament.
The identity of the person is beside the point, said cabinet minister Jason Clare.
“The point is that here is evidence from the head of ASIO saying that another country has interfered in Australian politics, contacting a politician,” he told Sky News on Sunday.
“He has signaled that this remains a real threat and that we must be on guard against this.”
“This is not a game of guess who, this is about keeping the country safe – the fact that this happened in the first place is tremendously serious.”
McKenzie said the former politician did not deserve to be protected and urged the Home Secretary to intervene.
“I think it is Clare O’Neil’s obligation, as a minister, to absolutely use parliamentary privilege responsibly, with integrity, and appoint this person. They wanted to betray our country,” he said.
“They do not deserve to be protected in any way by the political class.”