Subjects: Announcement of new ASIO Director General, Australia-China relationship, Migration Amendment Bill
EO&E................................................
PETER DUTTON:
I wanted to announce the appointment of the new Director General of ASIO, and in doing so, I want to start by saying thank you very much to Duncan Lewis for his service to our country over many decades. But his period at ASIO has been quite remarkable. He's led an exceptional team - people who have kept Australians safe, and not only in the counterterrorism space but in the countering foreign interference space. Duncan really has been a significant leader. He has a distinguished background of public service, which I hope will continue into the future. But I wish he and his wife and family all the very best in the next stage of their life.
I'm very pleased to announce to you today that Mr Mike Burgess, who's currently the Director-General at ASD, will take over as the Director-General of ASIO. And in coming into that position, he too has a remarkable background. Service to our country, not only in the public service but his private sector experience as well, puts him in good stead to take up this position and I don't think anybody would argue against the fact that Mike Burgess is one of the most respected people within the Australian intelligence community and indeed globally.
He's recognised for his leadership at ASD, for the work that he's done in a number of areas over a long period of time to keep our country safe, and I feel very proud of the fact that we've been able to identify somebody that will continue the work of Duncan but will take us into the next stage of transformation of ASIO. Mike's private sector experience at the very highest levels in Telstra, but what he's been able to do within the intelligence community over a long period of time has made him the ideal candidate for us.
So, I might ask Mike to make a few comments. If you have any questions for him, I'd ask you to put them to him and then he can step to the side and I'm happy to take any questions on this or other issues. Thank you.
MIKE BURGESS:
Thank you, Minister. Being appointed the Director-General of Security is a great honour and an even greater responsibility. Some of you may know, just over 24 years ago, I spotted a weird geeky sounded advert in the newspaper - back in the days when we had newspapers. It was short on details of who was recruiting but being a curious guy, I thought I'd give it a go. When I rang the number listed, all I got was a hello. I responded with my hello and after a short pause, all I got was a hello. That was my introduction to the world of intelligence and security, and a lot has changed in the last 24 years. But some things haven't. It was a recruitment equivalent of off the record, no comment.
ASIO performs incredibly important work defending Australia from serious threats, and those threats are very real. In my current role, I get to see ASIO up very closely as they counter terrorism, espionage, and foreign interference. It's an incredibly impressive organisation and more so the people who do that work. They are professionals who work tirelessly and effortlessly to protect Australia from serious threats, and while they operate in the shadows, they operate within the law. My role will be to continue that important work.
So while I'm humbled and excited with the challenge ahead, leaving the Australian Signals Directorate will be difficult. I've had a productive 18 months, a rewarding time, but most importantly, I will miss the staff - the clever, curious, committed individuals who belong to a great team and like the staff at ASIO, truly make a difference in the security of our country.
Finally, I'd like to acknowledge the current Director-General of Security, Duncan Lewis - acknowledge his outstanding service to our country and wish him and Jenny all the very best for the future.
Thank you.
PETER DUTTON:
Are there any questions for Mike?
QUESTION:
The Minister talked about the next stage of transformation for ASIO. How do you see that?
MIKE BURGESS:
ASIO's work is incredibly important - defending Australians from serious threats. Transformation is a big part of that. That is really all about how you put your best capabilities forward to make sure Australia is a safe place to live and work.
QUESTION:
There was some commentary last night from a Government MP about China. How big do you see the China threat in the country?
MIKE BURGESS:
So the threat in Australia from espionage and foreign interference is very real, very serious, and ASIO works tirelessly and my role will be to continue that important work to identify foreign interference and espionage to make sure Australians and Australia's way of life is secure.
PETER DUTTON:
Okay. Thanks, Mike. Thank you.
Okay. Are there any questions?
QUESTION:
Has Andrew Hastie overstepped the mark with his comments?
PETER DUTTON:
Well, I'd say a couple of things about Andrew Hastie. Firstly, he served his country in uniform. He's one of the most distinguished members of the Australian Parliament and he obviously chairs the Intelligence and Security Committee. So, his role in the Parliament now over a long period of time has been invaluable and he, obviously, like Anthony Byrne, others who have served us as a Parliament extraordinarily well on the PJCIS, all of them are concerned about any threats to our country and members of Parliament have the ability to speak out, to have their points of view. And as I say, Andrew Hastie is somebody who has served with great distinction and will continue to do that and he's right in his role as a backbencher to raise issues that are of concern to him.
QUESTION:
Do you support or agree with his comments?
PETER DUTTON:
Well, I don't have any comments to make in relation to the article. It's, as I say, an issue for somebody who knows the space well, who has served our country in uniform. From my perspective, we work very closely with China, for example, in relation to the counter-narcotics trade. We're very close partners in relation to trying to disrupt shipments, exchange of information, in relation to that issue. So, we'll continue that cooperation.
But in relation to foreign interference in our country, as the Director-General of ASIO and as Mr Burgess has just pointed out, this is an enduring and significant threat for us and it doesn't matter what country we're talking about, Australia has a right to exert its sovereignty and we want to make sure that people operate within the law and that influence is not undue, that our democratic processes are respected and they're the rules by which I engage.
QUESTION:
What do you think the real risk to Australia is at the moment and how real is this Chinese risk?
PETER DUTTON:
Well, the risk to us at the moment obviously is with returning foreign fighters, and we've got a number of bills now - 17 I think - through the parliament which go to trying to keep Australians safe. We've been able to thwart now, you know, 16 attempted terrorist attacks in our country so we deal with that threat of terrorism every day. But equally, we deal with the issue - and we have for a long period of time - dealt with the issue of foreign interference. And I think people understand that we're in a period now where there is a heightened degree of activity from some state actors and people that would seek to influence Australians in a particular direction.
The work of ASIO is absolutely necessary to make sure that we continue to deal with that threat and the Government's been very clear about our step-up in the region as well to provide support to PNG, to the Solomon Islands, to Fiji and others. So our view is not just here domestically, but what's happening within the region as well. But we do it in a sober way, we look at the issues, the threats before us, and obviously we've put a significant amount of resource into the agencies including ASIO. The fact that Mike is able to step up into the role of Director-General, I think should give all Australians absolutely certainty and assurance about the professionalism and the necessary life-saving work of ASIO to continue.
QUESTION:
Do you think the Australia China relationship need a bit of an overhaul or a briefing?
PETER DUTTON:
Look, I think we have a very strong relationship. Obviously a very strong trading relationship with China. We want to see China grow, we want to see China succeed, and we want to see more people come out of poverty into the middle class to be part of a growing China. We've been very clear about that.
But it doesn't matter who we're talking about, we want to make sure that all of our partners respect the sovereignty of our country. We want to make sure that whether it's in the area of trade negotiations where there might be allegations of theft of IP, or our university campuses, we exert our sovereignties as any nation does. So we'll continue to work with countries so that people understand the boundaries and as I say, ASIO does a lot of work behind the scenes that Australians don't see but that keeps us safe. In this day and age where we do have significant threats, the work of ASIO, of the ASD, all of the agencies that are involved in the Australian intelligence community, their work is more vital than ever.
QUESTION:
The Immigration Minister has criticised Labor for not supporting the Migration Amendment Bill but Labor is yet to reach a final position, so why is the Government politicising this when there's no settled position?
PETER DUTTON:
Look if I'm being honest with you I don't know what Anthony Albanese stands for. I don't know what he's doing when he argues against these bills and then votes for them in the Parliament when he works out that we've got the independents to support it through the Senate. I mean is he for it or against it? As bad a leader as Bill Shorten might have been, at least you knew what he stood for. Anthony Albanese is all over the shop, he's being pulled from left to right within the Labor Party and you know, whilst they're maintaining some facade of bringing people together, clearly within the ALP at the moment they're tearing themselves apart. They always have done this in relation to immigration matters; it doesn't matter if it's border protection or cancellation of visas. We know that the Labor Party has voted against mandatory detention on ten occasions, and yet they say now that they might support a bill in another way through the Parliament. So I don't know what they stand for.
But clearly in the report - which Minister Coleman is citing - he's exactly right to say that the Labor Party don't support these changes and the Labor Party might shift their position, you'd expect them to. I mean that's been the way in which Mr Albanese has operated. So I think Australians are right when they say that they just don't know what Mr Albanese stands for and they're scratching their head as to what the Labor Party is doing. They argue for something and then vote against it, vice versa. It's very hard to understand what they're doing. So the Government's position though is perfectly clear. That is: we're not going to tolerate criminals in our country who are non-citizens. We're not going to allow them to continue to assault; to sexually abuse children and women; we're not going to allow them to be involved in organised crime, et cetera. We've cancelled now seven times more visas of criminals, of non-citizens in our country, than the Labor Party did when they were in government. We're going to continue that work and I think David Coleman has made an excellent announcement and it builds on the work that Jason Wood did as chair of that committee and now as a minister within this portfolio.
QUESTION:
When do you expect the Government will make a decision on joining an international coalition in the Strait of Hormuz
PETER DUTTON:
Well really an issue for the Prime Minister and for the Defence Minister to comment on. Obviously, we're concerned with developments there but I think the Prime Minister made some very astute remarks last weekend when our American friends were visiting, so if the Government's got any announcement to make, we will make it in due course.
Thank you very much.
[Ends]
