Australian Defence Minister Peter Dutton has said the opposition Australian Labor Party (ALP) needs “greater awareness” about who it engages with after the country’s domestic spy agency, ASIO, foiled a Beijing-backed plot to install Manchurian Labor candidates from New South Wales (NSW) in this year’s federal election.
ASIO Director-General Mike Burgess revealed details about the disrupted plot on Feb. 9, at his annual threat assessment speech, saying an unnamed foreign government conspired to bankroll electoral candidates thought to be pliable or who might already support the interfering foreign power. The political candidates targeted in the plot were unaware of the scheme, he said.
