The Australia media on Thursday 29th February was abuzz with two stories concerning so-called spies.

First, the Director General of the Australian Security Intelligence Organization (ASIO) Mark Burgess claimed that a person working within a foreign intelligence cell in Australia, dubbed the “A-Team” was offered access to a former but unnamed prime minister.

The second story was that a Chinese-Australian business man and former Liberal political candidate Di Sanh Duong was jailed for two and a half years for attempting to influence a former acting immigration minister, Alan Tudge, Di Sanh Duong is believed to be the first person convicted under the Foreign Interference Act, passed in 2018 by the federal parliament.

Influence operations by foreign governments has been going on in Canberra since the 1950s. Many potential Australians have been cultivated by the US government and associated agencies. This grooming included all expense paid invitations for trips to conferences in the United States and the introduction to officials.

Leaked US Embassy cables in Caberra and consults in Sydney and Melbourne, published by Wikileaks found that former NSW Premier and foreign Minister Bob Carr had been briefing the US........

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