Foreign election interference

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ASIO has revealed it has uncovered a “foreign interference plot” to influence an Australian election in its annual address, highlighting a number of national security issues the intelligence agency is currently investigating.

Speaking on Wednesday evening, ASIO Director-General of Security Mike Burgess confirmed espionage and foreign interference on democracy within Australia has now “supplanted” terrorism as the nation’s “principal security concern”.

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Mr Burgess also confirmed the organisation had disrupted an attempt at affecting an election in Australia via a “wealthy individual with deep connections”.

“I can confirm that ASIO recently detected and disrupted a foreign interference plot in the lead-up to an election in Australia. This case involved a wealthy individual who maintained direct and deep connections with a foreign government and its intelligence agencies,” the ASIO boss continued, describing the person involved as “the puppeteer”.

He said while the puppeteer pulled the strings, the foreign government “called the shots”.

The “puppeteer” reportedly hired a person to enable foreign interference operations and used an offshore bank account to provide “hundreds of thousands of dollars for operating expenses”.

ASIO reported the operation was “secretly shaping the jurisdiction’s political scene to benefit the foreign power”, likening it as a “foreign interference start-up”.

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The “puppeteer” and the employee reportedly “plotted ways of advancing the candidates’ political prospects through generous support, placing favourable stories in foreign language news platforms and providing other forms of assistance”.

They then reportedly investigated hiring political consultants, advertising agencies and PR specialists to help individual campaigns.

“The aim was not just to get the candidates into positions of power, but also to generate a sense of appreciation, obligation and indebtedness that could subsequently be exploited,” Mr Burgess continued.

According to ASIO, the political candidates had no knowledge of the plot.

“Even if the plan had proceeded, they would not have known who was pulling the strings. The puppeteer used the employee as a cut-out. This deliberate deceit and secrecy about the foreign government connection is what took the case into the realm of foreign interference.”

A Beijing-orchestrated plot to bankroll New South Wales Labor candidates in this year's federal election has been foiled by ASIO.

The Chinese foreign interference attempt was first flagged by ASIO boss Mike Burgess on Wednesday, when he warned "many" foreign nations were targeting all levels of government in Australia.

The ABC has now confirmed a business figure in Australia with deep ties to China acted as a "puppeteer" to finance potential federal Labor candidates in NSW who would be sympathetic to Beijing.

The Prime Minister and Opposition Leader have both been briefed on the failed overseas operation.

A federal senator has used parliamentary privilege to suggest a prominent Chinese-Australian political donor is the mysterious "puppeteer" behind a thwarted foreign interference plot to back political candidates in the next election.

During a Senate estimates hearing, Labor senator Kimberley Kitching alleged the wealthy businessman behind the recent overseas conspiracy was property developer Chau Chak Wing.

Her comments follow last week’s revelation from ASIO boss Mike Burgess that his security agency recently blocked an overseas-funded operation to bankroll unsuspecting candidates in an unspecified election.

During his annual threat assessment speech on Wednesday, Mr Burgess declined to name the country behind the conspiracy, or whether it was a federal, state or local election that was targeted.

One of Australia’s most generous political donors has been named in Parliament as funding the bribery of a senior United Nations official, and as being closely associated with the lobbying arm of the Chinese Communist Party.

In a dramatic move that may further inflame diplomatic tensions between Beijing and Canberra, Liberal MP Andrew Hastie has used parliamentary privilege to identify billionaire businessman Chau Chak Wing as an unindicted co-conspirator in an FBI bribery case.

Mr Hastie, who chairs the joint intelligence and security committee, told Parliament on Tuesday that he had recently learned from US authorities that Mr Chau – a big donor to both main Australian political parties – was the co-conspirator identified in a New York court indictment as "CC-3".

CC-3 is alleged in the indictment to have funded a $US200,000 ($263,000) bribe which was funnelled to the former president of the UN general assembly, John Ashe, in 2013.

Mr Hastie’s speech to Parliament is the first time that Mr Chau has been formally identified as co-conspirator 3.

"It’s time we applied sunlight to our political system and a person who has featured prominently in Australian politics," Mr Hastie said.

"For reasons that are best undisclosed, the United States government did not seek to charge CC-3 for his involvement in the bribery of John Ashe. We know that CC-3 was willing to participate in the bribery of the 68th United Nations President of the General Assembly in 2013. We also know that ... CC-3 was in close contact with the United Front, the influence arm of the Chinese Communist Party in 2007.