‘Can Rattling’ Keating Cuts Loose Over Revelations of Beijing-Backed Spy Ring

Three senior public servants should have been sacked by the incoming Albanese government, the former prime minister said.

Former Prime Minister Paul Keating appears virtually to address the National Press Club in Canberra, Australia, Nov. 10, 2021. AAP Image/Lukas Coch

With typical rhetorical flourish, former Australian Labor Prime Minister Paul Keating has taken issue with the foreign minister, Senator Penny Wong, over her comments to ASEAN in the wake of the “A-team” spying revelations.

According to the country’s domestic spy agency, a group of Beijing-backed agents had convinced a serving Australian politician to betray his country and attempted to influence the child of a prime minister.