Key Points
- Home Affairs Minister Clare O’Neil revealed ASIO recently foiled a foreign interference operation by the Iranian regime.
- Ms O’Neil said countries had tried to “collect sensitive personal information of individuals seen as dissidents by the foreign government due to their activism”.
- Spy agencies will be tasked with designing programs for communities most at-risk of being targeted for foreign interference.
In a speech given to the Australian National University, Home Affairs Minister Clare O’Neil also revealed ASIO recently foiled a foreign interference operation by the Iranian regime.
Protesters at Sydney’s Bicentennial Park during a rally calling for global solidarity for the citizens of Iran in November, 2022. Source: AAP / PAUL BRAVEN/AAPIMAGE
The plot was aimed at an Iranian-Australian linked to locally held protests over the death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini, who died in police custody after she was detained by Iran’s morality police for failing to wear her hijab correctly.
Ms O’Neil said the government would call out the “egregious acts” of individual countries when it was in the national interest to do so.
“As minister for home affairs, there is something direct and practical I can do to help equip Australians to fight this problem – to talk as openly as I can about foreign interference in Australia.”
“There are examples of individuals arranging counter-protests to instigate arguments with activists with the intent of provoking violence – all at the request of a foreign intelligence service,” she said.
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