Australia warned of assassination attempts by regimes

The country’s intelligence chief has warned that an assassination attempt on Australian soil is a real possibility as foreign governments become more willing to cause harm.

Mike Burgess, director general of the Australian Security Intelligence Agency, revealed at the 2025 Lowy Conference on Tuesday night that at least three countries are willing and able to carry out an assassination attempt in Australia.

“There is a realistic possibility that a foreign government will attempt to assassinate a perceived dissident in Australia,” he said.

“This threat is real.”

The spy chief insisted he was talking about assassination “attempts” and said ASIO was working 24 hours a day to counter these threats.

Although he did not name those countries, Mr Burgess noted that regimes were already targeting Australia.

Iran concealed its involvement in the firebombings of Melbourne’s Addas Synagogue and Sydney’s Lewis Continental Kitchen in 2024 using a “complex web of cutouts” without even knowing they were receiving instructions from the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.

Closer to Australia, ASIO suspects that some form of extremist propaganda purportedly from a transnational terrorist group was actually created by a hostile nation.

Even Russia, always a major espionage threat, appears to have upped the ante as the war with Ukraine makes intelligence gathering more urgent.

ASIO has uncovered links between pro-Russian influencers in Australia and an offshore media outlet that “almost certainly” took orders from Russian intelligence.

Another foreign intelligence service, which claims not to spy on Australia, has attempted to recruit Australians to gather information on the economy, critical minerals and the country’s nuclear submarine deal with the US and UK.

He even arranged a face-to-face meeting with an Australian in a third country before ASIO intervened.

“Never has Australia faced so many different threats simultaneously,” Mr Burgess said.

These foreign actors are eroding Australia’s social cohesion from afar, as international conflicts, including Israel’s military offensive in Gaza, reshape the country’s security environment.

While the conflict in the Middle East has not directly led to terrorism in Australia, it has increased tensions, increased the possibility of politically motivated violence and sparked protests.

“Even if the ceasefire continues, we expect the tests of our social cohesion to continue,” Mr Burgess said. he said.

The war in Gaza has led to a rise in anarchist extremism, but nationalist and racist violent actors continue to make up the majority of ASIO’s investigations into ideologically motivated extremism.

For example, in August the country’s largest neo-Nazi group used March Australia rallies to raise their profile by using organizers’ complaints about immigration and the cost of living.

Although the National Socialist Network is not preoccupied with terrorism, Mr. Burgess worries that hate speech and propaganda could lead to violence.

But perhaps one of the biggest challenges for the spy agency is the internet, which aggravates every factor that threatens social harmony.

Mr Burgess described it as “an echo chamber for apathy, misinformation and reinforcement” and warned that the spread of artificial intelligence could take online radicalization to new levels.