‘Real thing': China will keep spying on us
The assessment comes a day after the Australian Federal Police charged a Chinese national with 'reckless foreign interference' in Canberra.
The woman, a permanent resident of Australia, is accused of covertly collecting information about the Canberra branch of a Buddhist association called Guan Yin Citta on behalf of China's Public Security Bureau.
The Guan Yin Citta association is banned in China.
Chris Taylor of the Australian Strategic Policy Institute (ASPI) told NewsWire it reflects 'the reality of espionage and foreign interference directed against Australia'.
'It's an actual, real thing – it exists,' Mr Taylor said.
Pointing to an espionage report released by Australia's domestic intelligence agency, he said there was 'a clear intensification of foreign intelligence interest in Australia'.
'Australia is paying a lot more attention to these issues than it may have in the past, not so much at the governmental level … but at a public level too,' Mr Taylor said.
'The messaging that's gone out from government about espionage, about foreign interference, over the last couple of years means that people in the community are more alive to it as a potential issue.' Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and Chinese President Xi Jinping have touted progress on bilateral relations. Prime Minister's Office / Handout / NewsWire Credit: Supplied
The other factor is 'the big picture, strategic changes that are occurring'.
'The fact that international politics, international power, is concentrating in the Indo-Pacific, concentrating in East Asia, means that it's no surprise that Australia's moved to the front lines of that contest in a way that we really weren't a couple of decades ago.'
As for why Beijing would target a Buddhist group in the Australian capital, Mr Taylor said it was about keeping its diaspora in line abroad.
This is not new for China.
Analysts have long warned of Chinese Communist Party (CCP) influence suppressing free speech on university campuses, with students dobbing in fellow students who voice views that rub Beijing up the wrong way.
'For a lot of authoritarian regimes, they have an abiding interest in what they see as their nationals overseas, whether that's students, whether that's members of diaspora communities,' Mr Taylor said.
'So that kind of foreign intelligence activity ends up bounding that objective.
'It's actually not so much how we might imagine classical espionage directed towards the secrets of the Australian state.
'It's directed towards finding out what those communities are doing and trying to influence what those communities are doing, in a kind of focus on the interests of a regime, rather than the interests of a foreign country as such.'
'21st century for Australia'
Foreign interference was not among the issues Anthony Albanese broached with reporters on his lengthy state visit to China last month.
Instead, the Prime Minister opted for less touchy topics, such as cash-splashing Chinese holiday-makers pumping billions into Australia's thirsty tourism sector.
His hosts were also eager to spruik the potential gains of deepening economic ties amid global turmoil driven by Donald Trump's tariffs.
Xi Jinping talked of 'unswervingly' pursuing deeper Sino-Australian co-operation regardless of 'how the international landscape may evolve' when he met Mr Albanese.
The message was in line with Mr Albanese's own words as he met with business leaders and CCP top brass, championing Australia's trade and research offerings in Shanghai, Beijing and Chengdu. Chinese President Xi Jinping has said Australia and China should 'unswervingly' pursue deeper Sino-Australia economic ties. Prime Minister's Office / Handout / NewsWire Credit: Supplied Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has made clear he sees China as key to Australia's economic future. Prime Minister's Office / Handout / NewsWire Credit: Supplied
While he often repeated his mantra of working with Beijing 'where we can' and disagreeing 'where we must', he made clear he saw China as key to Australia's economic future.
Foreign Minister Penny Wong on Tuesday was hesitant to say if news of the suspected Chinese agent in Canberra would harm that relationship, but vowed the Albanese government 'will safeguard our democracy'.
'Our democracy is about who we are,' Senator Wong told the ABC.
'And that means we will stand together against any foreign interference.
'We have strong frameworks in place.
'We will not tolerate collectively or as a government, Australians being harassed or surveilled. We will continue to safeguard the democracy.'
On relations with Beijing, she said 'dialogue matters'.
'Dialogue is important. Dialogue enables us to manage difference but it doesn't eliminate it,' Senator Wong said.
Echoing Australia's chief diplomat, Mr Taylor said it was just a reality that China would spy and meddle in Australia, no matter how 'incongruous' with what Beijing and Canberra say.
'We're being realistic that countries spy on each other, that China and Australia's interests security interests will differ,' he said.
'This is the 21st Century for Australia.
'It's dealing with these incongruities.
'It's dealing with living in a region that has become this increasingly contested space.'
He added that 'we shouldn't be we should any less aggrieved, but we should be probably less surprised that people are engaged in espionage against us.'
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Migrants and refugees face barriers, including a lack of local experience and networks, English language proficiency or pronunciation and a lack of familiarity with Australian workplace culture and the job market. There are also difficulties and barriers, including exorbitant costs, in getting overseas qualifications recognised in Australia. These structural barriers inhibit positive migrant and refugee career outcomes. Also, employers can be reticent or unsure about hiring migrants and refugees, and mainstream employment services often are either not accessible or unsuited to migrants and refugees. Easily available statistics and research paint a picture of the effect of this situation. Migrants from non-English-speaking countries suffer persistent wage gaps, and overseas-educated migrants earn less than similarly qualified Australians, particularly those from culturally diverse backgrounds. Poor English can affect employment, with 44 per cent of migrants and refugees working below their skill level, even though 57 per cent of them hold university qualifications. And strong accents or a lack of knowledge of local industry jargon exacerbates the problem. At the same time, we know there are critical workforce shortages across a plethora of sectors. The current shortfall of GPs in Australia will rise to 3900 in 2028 and to more than 8900 in 2028; and the undersupply of nurses will rise to almost 80,000 by 2035. Engineers Australia has reported that the nation's engineering skills and labour shortage are at their highest level in a decade. And Master Builders Australia says 130,000 extra tradies will be needed by 2029 to meet the growing demand for new housing. The Commonwealth government's Jobs and Skills Australia agency has estimated that 67 occupations covered by the Technicians and Trades Workers category are in chronic and long-term shortage, representing about one-third of all skills shortages across the country. These shortages are pushing up construction costs and are worse in rural and regional areas, many of which are vulnerable to natural disasters. The boom in renewable energy, data centres to support AI and major infrastructure projects as well as our aging populations and increased demand in care sectors mean these shortages are neither short term nor geographically limited. Making matters worse is global competition for skilled migrants, competition between states within Australia for workers with critical skills and the leakage of skilled workers from regional areas to the cities. But this situation is also an economic opportunity for Australia. Better harnessing the skills and experience of migrants would deliver economic dividends through addressing professional workforce shortages, boosting productivity and reducing the overall cost of creating the professional workforce we need. This is evidenced in some simple numbers. It costs Australia anywhere from $180,000 to $500,000 - including Commonwealth Place Supported funding - to produce a registered doctor. For overseas trained medicos, that figure is around $28,500 - and it could be lower with more streamlined qualifications recognition. Better utilising migrant and refugee skills would also deliver a social dividend through the better integration of newcomers into the community, thus bolstering social cohesion and further supporting disadvantaged cohorts of migrants and refugees. To do this, we need to address the three pillars of the problem: providing access to gap training and qualification recognition; preparing people for Australia's workplace culture and environment; and addressing employer attitudes and bias toward international skills. Practically, this provides a collective approach to reduce the cost and simplify the processes for requalification and qualification, with clearly communicated pathways. We need to support employers to be more confident about overseas-trained staff through incentives and programs to address discrimination. This includes our looking at our recruitment practices and critically assessing whether they are a barrier to accessing migrant talent. We need to support migrants and refugees with job readiness training initiatives, such as the Skilled Professional Migrant Program delivered by my organisation, AMES Australia. Recently, we commissioned an economist to run the numbers on the effect of a national rollout of the program, a scheme that has a proven record of supporting migrants and refugees into jobs commensurate with their skills and qualifications. The paper, produced by Dr Ian Pringle, found utilising the skills and experience migrants and refugees bring with them could benefit Australia's economy by as much as $10 billion over five years. It found that supporting new arrivals to re-establish their professional careers in Australia could generate more than $2.5 billion in extra tax receipts as well as an extra $8 billion in earnings circulating in the economy over five years. What's more is that the extra access to skills could also produce a 10 per cent spike in productivity. The skills gap is an issue that has evolved again and again over time. Historically, Australia's response has been a siloed approach when what we have is an economic problem that needs a systemic all-of-the-economy response. It's a problem that we have identified but failed to properly pin down and solve over decades. That's the reason why Australia needs a national and integrated initiative to harness the skills of migrants and refugees, while reaping the economic and social benefits that it would bring before that chameleon changes its colour and disappears into the crowd again. In Australia today, like the proverbial chameleon in the crowd, there is an issue and its solution hiding in plain sight. Migrants and refugees are struggling to get jobs that befit their skills and experience. At the same time, we have a critical skills shortage. Migrants and refugees face barriers, including a lack of local experience and networks, English language proficiency or pronunciation and a lack of familiarity with Australian workplace culture and the job market. There are also difficulties and barriers, including exorbitant costs, in getting overseas qualifications recognised in Australia. These structural barriers inhibit positive migrant and refugee career outcomes. Also, employers can be reticent or unsure about hiring migrants and refugees, and mainstream employment services often are either not accessible or unsuited to migrants and refugees. Easily available statistics and research paint a picture of the effect of this situation. Migrants from non-English-speaking countries suffer persistent wage gaps, and overseas-educated migrants earn less than similarly qualified Australians, particularly those from culturally diverse backgrounds. Poor English can affect employment, with 44 per cent of migrants and refugees working below their skill level, even though 57 per cent of them hold university qualifications. And strong accents or a lack of knowledge of local industry jargon exacerbates the problem. At the same time, we know there are critical workforce shortages across a plethora of sectors. The current shortfall of GPs in Australia will rise to 3900 in 2028 and to more than 8900 in 2028; and the undersupply of nurses will rise to almost 80,000 by 2035. Engineers Australia has reported that the nation's engineering skills and labour shortage are at their highest level in a decade. And Master Builders Australia says 130,000 extra tradies will be needed by 2029 to meet the growing demand for new housing. The Commonwealth government's Jobs and Skills Australia agency has estimated that 67 occupations covered by the Technicians and Trades Workers category are in chronic and long-term shortage, representing about one-third of all skills shortages across the country. These shortages are pushing up construction costs and are worse in rural and regional areas, many of which are vulnerable to natural disasters. The boom in renewable energy, data centres to support AI and major infrastructure projects as well as our aging populations and increased demand in care sectors mean these shortages are neither short term nor geographically limited. Making matters worse is global competition for skilled migrants, competition between states within Australia for workers with critical skills and the leakage of skilled workers from regional areas to the cities. But this situation is also an economic opportunity for Australia. Better harnessing the skills and experience of migrants would deliver economic dividends through addressing professional workforce shortages, boosting productivity and reducing the overall cost of creating the professional workforce we need. This is evidenced in some simple numbers. It costs Australia anywhere from $180,000 to $500,000 - including Commonwealth Place Supported funding - to produce a registered doctor. For overseas trained medicos, that figure is around $28,500 - and it could be lower with more streamlined qualifications recognition. Better utilising migrant and refugee skills would also deliver a social dividend through the better integration of newcomers into the community, thus bolstering social cohesion and further supporting disadvantaged cohorts of migrants and refugees. To do this, we need to address the three pillars of the problem: providing access to gap training and qualification recognition; preparing people for Australia's workplace culture and environment; and addressing employer attitudes and bias toward international skills. Practically, this provides a collective approach to reduce the cost and simplify the processes for requalification and qualification, with clearly communicated pathways. We need to support employers to be more confident about overseas-trained staff through incentives and programs to address discrimination. This includes our looking at our recruitment practices and critically assessing whether they are a barrier to accessing migrant talent. We need to support migrants and refugees with job readiness training initiatives, such as the Skilled Professional Migrant Program delivered by my organisation, AMES Australia. Recently, we commissioned an economist to run the numbers on the effect of a national rollout of the program, a scheme that has a proven record of supporting migrants and refugees into jobs commensurate with their skills and qualifications. The paper, produced by Dr Ian Pringle, found utilising the skills and experience migrants and refugees bring with them could benefit Australia's economy by as much as $10 billion over five years. It found that supporting new arrivals to re-establish their professional careers in Australia could generate more than $2.5 billion in extra tax receipts as well as an extra $8 billion in earnings circulating in the economy over five years. What's more is that the extra access to skills could also produce a 10 per cent spike in productivity. The skills gap is an issue that has evolved again and again over time. Historically, Australia's response has been a siloed approach when what we have is an economic problem that needs a systemic all-of-the-economy response. It's a problem that we have identified but failed to properly pin down and solve over decades. That's the reason why Australia needs a national and integrated initiative to harness the skills of migrants and refugees, while reaping the economic and social benefits that it would bring before that chameleon changes its colour and disappears into the crowd again.
Sydney Morning Herald
an hour ago
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'Your duties will include providing security and emergency response services at the compound, maintaining site safety, and adhering to all operational protocols,' the employment offer states. The fly-in, fly-out security guards agreed to an annual salary of $120,000 for the roles, which require them to be based in Nauru for six months of the year. The Australian Federal Police and the Department of Home Affairs are both mentioned in internal correspondence about the deployment from Safe Hands Group director Jelena Brozinic. 'AFP is now in direct contact with Nauru Airlines ... AFP has confirmed that they will provide a formal start date through Home Affairs once their internal logistics are finalised,' Brozinic stated in an internal message on April 9. A spokeswoman for the Department of Home Affairs said it had no 'direct or subcontracted arrangement' with Nauru Community Safety and denied the organisation had any role in Australia's offshore detention centre on the island. 'Arrangements between the government of Nauru and other entities are a matter for them,' the spokeswoman said. The spokeswoman said US firm Management and Training Corporation was responsible for the 'facilities, garrison, transferee arrivals and reception services at the Regional Processing Centre in Nauru'. Australia's offshore processing policy has involved sending asylum seekers to the Nauru detention centre since 2001, with about 100 detainees presently held in the facility. This masthead can also reveal that Geelong resident Timothy Jones was appointed by Nauru Community Safety as its general manager of operations, despite his extensive links with Safe Hands Group, Bilal and the Finks. Jones, who did not respond to requests for comment, was previously employed by Safe Hands Group as a general manager until about 2022, according to a now-deleted LinkedIn profile. He is also the owner of a $1 million property in the NSW town of Gunning, about 75 kilometres north of Canberra, where Bilal and his wife, Chloe, reside and breed greyhounds. His son, Branden Jones, 26, is an associate of the Finks who became director of Safe Hands 002 Pty Ltd in August 2023, before the company was placed into liquidation last year owing almost $894,000 in 'outstanding tax lodgements' to the Australian Tax Office. Safe Hands Group Pty Ltd was registered in February 2023, before assets and clients were transferred between the two companies in an alleged case of 'phoenixing'. However, corporate regulators and the ATO have not taken any enforcement action. It is unknown who appointed Timothy Jones to the management position with Nauru Community Safety, which removed profiles of its entire leadership team from its website on Monday, following inquiries from this masthead. The deal with Safe Hands Group to subcontract guards to Nauru was made just months after the Albanese government signed a treaty with Nauru President David Waiau Ranibok Adeang in December, when Australia committed a further $40 million for security and policing. Under the treaty, Nauru committed to 'mutually agree with Australia any partnership, arrangement or engagement with any other state or entity on matters relating to Nauru's security'. Last month, this masthead revealed Australian company Canstruct, which received $1.82 billion to run Australia's asylum seeker processing regime on Nauru for five years until late 2022, was the subject of an AFP investigation over serious fraud allegations. Transparency International Australia chief executive Clancy Moore said Nauru had been plagued by allegations of corruption and money-laundering. 'Home Affairs should be doing enhanced due diligence on any government-funded contractors operating in Nauru,' Moore said. 'This includes putting subcontractors under the microscope for risks including criminal history, links with politically exposed persons, and ownership structures. Loading 'Taxpayer funds lining the pockets of companies owned by bikie gangs to provide security services in Nauru is a giant red flag for the government.' He urged the federal government to introduce legislation for a centralised, publicly available beneficial ownership register to monitor those who own and benefit from corporate structures. The consulate-general of Nauru and the Nauru high commission did not respond to questions. Phone calls to the Nauru parliament were not returned. This masthead does not suggest any wrongdoing by managers of Nauru Community Safety. Safe Hands Group and its director Brozinic, who has been employed by Bilal for more than a decade, including at a now-defunct hospitality business called London Burger, did not respond to requests for comment. Bilal also did not respond to questions, but has previously denied his involvement with the Finks and Rebels bikie gangs. However, police officers made submissions in the ACT Supreme Court, the ACT Magistrates' Court and the Greyhound Welfare and Integrity Commission claiming the 53-year-old was a senior figure in the ACT chapter of the Finks outlaw motorcycle gang. Detective Sergeant Owen Patterson, of the anti-bikie taskforce Nemesis, said in court in April that Bilal was previously a leader of the ACT Rebels, which disbanded and became the 'All Brothers Crew', or the Ali Bilal Crew, in late 2022 or early 2023. Patterson told the court that members then eventually 'patched over' to the Finks in 2023, and that Bilal was believed to have been appointed 'world president' of the gang. In February last year, a greyhound hearing was provided with an email from NSW Police constable Mitchell Clark, who confirmed officers attended Bilal's property in Wollogorang, about 60 kilometres north-east of Canberra. The police were conducting a compliance inspection for a firearm prohibition order served on Bilal, who was not home at the time. But, according to Clark's email, police were confronted by two other members of the Finks, one of whom was charged with assaulting an officer. 'A Finks OMCG [outlaw motorcycle gang] vest was in the wardrobe of the main bedroom, this is believed to belong to Ali Bilal,' Clark said in the email on September 27, 2023. 'Ali Bilal is the president of the Finks OMCG interstate chapter and resides at this address.' In 2022, Bilal was sentenced to three months in prison after pleading guilty to five charges relating to using a carriage service to harass or threaten, after his conversations were captured by telephone intercepts. Loading In one recording played to the ACT Magistrates' Court, Bilal ordered a woman to arrange a meeting with an unnamed man. 'Get him to meet me. That's it,' Bilal yelled. 'I'm gonna f--- him ... I'm not gonna leave anybody tonight.' Despite being sentenced to prison for behaviour chief magistrate Lorraine Walker described as 'manipulative aggression', Bilal was able to set up a new company with ASIC in February named Hostile Takeovers Pty Ltd, which lists him as the sole owner and director. The company trades under the business name Black Dog Group Services. In 2012, Bilal was charged with possession of steroids. But because he had changed his name by deed poll in 2002 to Tony Soprano, officers decided to charge both Bilal and Soprano with three counts of steroid possession.
