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Australian spy agency disrupts foreign election interference

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Re: Australian spy agency disrupts foreign election interference

#11

Post by IIAOPSW »

Cadwhisker wrote: post #4

Better coverage here: https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/chinese-spies-attemp... "A Chinese spy ring attempted to bankroll NSW Labor candidates in the upcoming federal election in an attempt to get MPs elected to Australia’s Parliament. The plot was foiled by the nation’s counter-espionage agency ASIO, preventing the spies from installing sympathetic candidates into Labor’s preselection process." The opposition…

This honestly makes me suspicious. Arm of government says opposition of current government is corrupted. How convenient.

I don't know if ASIO is/isn't/could be weaponized as a political tool or if the sort of person that ends up there can/does use their position to push their personal politics. But it is plausible that it happens and by the nature of the organization such a hypothesis can't really be scrutinized.

Re: Australian spy agency disrupts foreign election interference

#12

Post by _kbh_ »

Innercode wrote: post #6

Well they have certainly tried before: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sam_Dastyari#Chinese_influence...

The most recent and audacious version of this is Gladys Liu.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gladys_Liu

https://amp.smh.com.au/politics/federal/gladys-liu-s-beijing...

I’m sure the former member of a Chinese propaganda group is not upto anything suspect.

Re: Australian spy agency disrupts foreign election interference

#13

Post by hammock »

IIAOPSW wrote: post #11
Cadwhisker wrote: post #4

Better coverage here: https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/chinese-spies-attemp... "A Chinese spy ring attempted to bankroll NSW Labor candidates in the upcoming federal election in an attempt to get MPs elected to Australia’s Parliament. The plot was foiled by the nation’s counter-espionage agency ASIO, preventing the spies from installing sympathetic candidates into Labor’s preselection process." The opposition…

This honestly makes me suspicious. Arm of government says opposition of current government is corrupted. How convenient. I don't know if ASIO is/isn't/could be weaponized as a political tool or if the sort of person that ends up there can/does use their position to push their personal politics. But it is plausible that it happens and by the nature of the organization such a hypothesis can't really be scrutinized.

>This honestly makes me suspicious. Arm of government says opposition of current government is corrupted. How convenient

Didn't this happen during Obama's presidency, when Hillary and Trump were running?

Re: Australian spy agency disrupts foreign election interference

#14

Post by phantomathkg »

IIAOPSW wrote: post #11
Cadwhisker wrote: post #4

Better coverage here: https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/chinese-spies-attemp... "A Chinese spy ring attempted to bankroll NSW Labor candidates in the upcoming federal election in an attempt to get MPs elected to Australia’s Parliament. The plot was foiled by the nation’s counter-espionage agency ASIO, preventing the spies from installing sympathetic candidates into Labor’s preselection process." The opposition…

This honestly makes me suspicious. Arm of government says opposition of current government is corrupted. How convenient. I don't know if ASIO is/isn't/could be weaponized as a political tool or if the sort of person that ends up there can/does use their position to push their personal politics. But it is plausible that it happens and by the nature of the organization such a hypothesis can't really be scrutinized.

will you say the same if ASIO can table the evidence that a particular candidate is really having relationship or funded by Chinese?

Do you really want Australia heavily depending on China like what happened in Australia previously?

Re: Australian spy agency disrupts foreign election interference

#15

Post by threeseed »

IIAOPSW wrote: post #11
Cadwhisker wrote: post #4

Better coverage here: https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/chinese-spies-attemp... "A Chinese spy ring attempted to bankroll NSW Labor candidates in the upcoming federal election in an attempt to get MPs elected to Australia’s Parliament. The plot was foiled by the nation’s counter-espionage agency ASIO, preventing the spies from installing sympathetic candidates into Labor’s preselection process." The opposition…

This honestly makes me suspicious. Arm of government says opposition of current government is corrupted. How convenient. I don't know if ASIO is/isn't/could be weaponized as a political tool or if the sort of person that ends up there can/does use their position to push their personal politics. But it is plausible that it happens and by the nature of the organization such a hypothesis can't really be scrutinized.

ASIO has levelled claims against people connected to government ministers as well e.g. Gladys Liu.

Australia doesn't have the same level of deep bipartisanship that exists in the US so I wouldn't assume that our intelligence agency is a political tool.

Re: Australian spy agency disrupts foreign election interference

#16

Post by threeseed »

stanislavb wrote: post #10

Now imagine how many similar cases there are around the world that haven't been "discovered" officially. Both China and Russia are using similar tactics. I guess, at the time being, China is the more dangerous one as CCP is much richer than poor war-focussed Russia.

I wouldn't even just look at elections or government interference.

Universities in particular are rife with Chinese influence not just as the administrative level but amongst the students. I personally know of Hong Kong students who have been threatened by CCP operatives in Australia for being involved in protests.

Re: Australian spy agency disrupts foreign election interference

#18

Post by csdvrx »

iamthemonster wrote: post #3
andrei_says_ wrote: post #2

> disrupted a foreign government's attempt to illegally bankroll the election of candidates who are politically sympathetic or vulnerable to inducements. I must say that my first thought when reading the title was that they disrupted the market of foreign election interference.

It's really only a matter of time before an app called Bribr "democratises lobbying" by allowing users to make microtransactions directly to their elected representatives for influence.

And why not? Lobbying is legal if it follows the rules.

If something similar could be made legal yet crowdsourced, I would see that as progress for democracy, a "lobbying as a service" open to all: if 50M people are ready to put $1 to lobby for something they care about, it's a shame we don't currently let them be properly heard.

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