Espionage and foreign interference have become a more serious threat to Australia than terrorism, the boss of the country’s spy agency, the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation (ASIO), told a Senate estimates hearing on Feb. 14.
This comes amid revelations that ASIO disrupted a plot by an agent, referred to as the “puppeteer,” acting on behalf of an unnamed foreign power, thought to be the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), to bankroll potential Manchurian candidates for the Australian Labor Party (ALP) in the state of New South Wales (NSW) in this year’s upcoming federal elections.
