ASIO cracks ‘nest of spies’ close to politicians and police

ASIO has cracked a major spy ring which had become close to current and former politicians as well as police.

A senior bureaucrat with top level security clearance to access classified defence information, had also been groomed.

Director general of ASIO, Mike Burgess, says the “nest of spies” were found last year and removed from Australia.

“In the last 12 months a significant number of foreign spies and their proxies have either been removed form Australia or rendered inoperative,” he said.

“I’m talking about a number in double figures.”

Clive Williams from the Centre for Military and Security Law at ANU, says spies in Australia are generally more interested in scientific advances than military intelligence.

“A whole range of countries are interested in different things that are going on in Australia, particularly in research areas,” he told Ross Stevenson.

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