5 Regimes Actively Targeting Australians to Force Them to Leave the Country: Spy Agency

One foreign official snuck into the country pretending to be a tourist to force a local to leave Australia.
5 Regimes Actively Targeting Australians to Force Them to Leave the Country: Spy Agency
Director-General of the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation (ASIO) Mike Burgess in front of ASIO's headquarters in Canberra, Australia on June 24, 2026. David Gray/AFP via Getty Images
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The head of Australia’s domestic spy agency, Mike Burgess, says at least five regimes are actively targeting foreign born locals to force them to return to their country of origin.

Burgess, the director-general of the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation, told the story of a man who was subjected to an “unrelenting campaign of intimidation” by an unnamed foreign government, trying to force him to return to face unspecified corruption allegations.

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Rex Widerstrom
Rex Widerstrom
Author
Rex Widerstrom is a New Zealand-based reporter with over 40 years of experience in media, including radio and print. He is currently a presenter for Hutt Radio.