Adem Somyurek uses parliamentary privilege to accuse rival politician Anthony Byrne of being a traitor to China’s pocket

A Victorian MP has used parliamentary privilege to name a former rival politician who he claims is the unnamed traitor to Australia allegedly exposed by ASIO.

In the Victorian state upper house, Adem Somyurek, who was a former warlord of a Victorian Labor faction but is now an independent, named former MP Anthony Byrne as the “traitor” the boss alluded to last week. of spies Mike Burgess.

Byrne, who did not contest his Melbourne seat of Holt in the last federal election, was also at the center of an investigation into Labor branch stacking in Victoria that targeted Somyurek and led to him resigning from the Labor Party in 2022.

In naming Byrne as a Chinese collaborator, Somyurek admitted to having an “axe to sharpen” against his former factional ally turned nemesis, but said the veteran Victorian federal MP “certainly ticks all the boxes here” to be the spy.

Somyurek claimed that Byrne had run into cash problems while serving each year on parliament’s Joint Intelligence and Security Committee, either as chairman or vice-chairman, depending on whether Labor was in government.

Somyurek claimed he had “receipts” for leaks orchestrated by Brynes which he was willing to hand over to ASIO to assist in its investigation.

Byrne was forced to resign from the Intelligence and Security committee after admitting illegal branch stacking practices during an investigation by Victoria’s Broad-Based Independent Anti-Corruption Commission in 2021.

Australian intelligence agencies have denied that Byrne is the person mentioned by Burgess.

During his testimony, Bryne admitted paying other people’s Labor Party membership fees since he first became an MP in 1999, sometimes shelling out up to $2,000 of his own money in a single year to keep his bloc intact. of voters.

Byrne also gave IBAC access to video recordings made at his federal constituent office in Melbourne’s eastern suburbs in late 2019 and early 2020 that implicated Somyurek in similar practices.

The footage captured Mr Somyurek branch stacking and other inappropriate behaviour, including ordering electorates and taxpayer-funded ministerial staff to carry out partisan activities during official working hours.

Labor sources later described the surreptitious filming as a “factional coup” that toppled the powerful Center Unity man, Mr Somyurek, and ultimately benefited the Victorian premier, Dan Andrews, leader of the Socialist Left faction.

What followed was a purge of Victorian Labor MPs linked to the Somyurk faction as preselection battles took down Frank McGuire, Marlene Kairouz and Luke Donnellan, who was also implicated in the IBAC investigation.

From Mr. Burgess claimed a former politician had been caught in a spy ring and remained silent 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,” Mr Burgess said.

This has not satisfied those who demand that he or someone with knowledge reveal the identity of the former politician.

National Senator Bridget McKenzie has urged Home Secretary Clare O’Neil to “use parliamentary privilege” to delegate information.

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.