Top spy reveals scale of neo-Nazi threat

Australia’s high spy has confirmed neo-Nazis have gotten extra emboldened however the greatest risk to nationwide safety stays espionage.

ASIO boss Mike Burgess on Tuesday mentioned neo-Nazis had been staging public shows with extra frequency however monitoring these teams nonetheless didn’t kind the majority of his organisation’s caseload.

Appearing earlier than a Senate estimates listening to, Mr Burgess disclosed he had briefed Anthony Albanese after the Prime Minister final week claimed right-wing extremism had “for some time” posed the strongest recognized risk to Australia’s safety.

Mr Albanese made the feedback after members of a neo-Nazi carried out the Sieg Heil salute throughout an anti-immigration rally in Melbourne on May 13 following the same plenty of comparable public gatherings earlier this yr.

Mr Burgess on Tuesday mentioned all these demonstrations had been gaining prominence however mentioned they had been primarily aimed toward recruiting new members and didn’t essentially point out the fear risk of neo-Nazi teams was rising.

“It’s a sign that those groups are more emboldened and able to come out publicly in their recruitment to push their what they believe in and recruit to their cause,” he mentioned.

“Does that mean there’s been an increase in the numbers of them? I don’t necessarily see that correlation.”

However, Mr Burgess mentioned ASIO had witnessed an increase within the quantity of people that had been drawn to neo-Nazi ideology for causes the organisation didn’t “fully understand”.

He revealed ASIO’s counter-terrorism investigation caseload devoted to ideologically-motivated extremism, together with the neo-Nazi motion, had grown over the previous seven years from 5 per cent to about 30 per cent.

But the principal risk remained religiously-motivated extremism, taking over 70 per cent of the organisation’s workload, Mr Burgess mentioned.

Mr Burgess additionally revealed ASIO was monitoring for doable safety threats and overseas interference because the “Yes” and “No” campaigns for the Indigenous Voice to parliament and govt authorities get underneath approach.

“We are not seeing indications of people planning a terrorist attack as part of that but that’s something that we constantly look at, noting the terrorism threat level is still probable,” he mentioned.

Mr Burgess mentioned ASIO hadn’t acquired any intelligence suggesting a overseas actor was planning to intrude within the referendum — to be held someday between October and December.

But he mentioned ASIO was holding an “open mind” to the likelihood and remained looking out.

Mr Burgess mentioned the talk within the lead-up to the referendum had the potential to end in spontaneous violence, although he mentioned this is able to be a matter for police somewhat than ASIO.

“Unfortunately we do expect people, as they express their views and exchange their views online, that might inflame some people,” he mentioned.

“We continue to watch if there’s anyone doing planned violence, to promote politically motivated violence, promotion of communal violence, or someone is trying to interfere from a foreign interference perspective.”