$450m later, new Adelaide uni's world ranking debut 'lacklustre'
Last week's release of the QS World University Ranking 2026 was the first time the new mega-university – the merged University of Adelaide and University of South Australia – submitted aggregated data.
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The Australian
a day ago
- The Australian
ASIO chief exposes shocking cost of foreign spying on Australia
Foreign espionage is costing the Australian economy at least $12.5bn a year, with the ASIO boss warning against complacency against the 'real, present and costly danger'. The director-general of security Mike Burgess has for the first time publicly put a dollar figure on what foreign spies are costing Australia and espionage remains one of the country's principal security concerns. 'This is critical because I believe that we need to wake up to the cost of espionage – which is more than just financial,' he said in the annual Hawke Lecture at the University of Adelaide on Thursday night. 'We need to understand espionage is not some quaint, romantic fiction; it's a real, present and costly danger.' ASIO director-general Mike Burgess issued his warning delivering the annual Hawke Lecture at Adelaide University. Picture: NewsWire / Martin Ollman Mr Burgess released a new report that ASIO developed with the Australian Institute of Criminology, to try to count the cost of espionage. The report found espionage cost the Australian economy at least $12.5bn in the 2023-2024 financial year, an estimate Mr Burgess called 'conservative'. 'This includes the direct costs of known espionage incidents, such as the state-sponsored theft of intellectual property, as well as the indirect costs of countering and responding,' he said. 'As just one example, the Institute estimates foreign cyber spies stole nearly $2bn of trade secrets and intellectual property from Australian companies and businesses in 2023-24. 'The report includes a case study where spies hacked into the computer network of a major Australian exporter, making off with commercially sensitive information. 'The theft gave the foreign country a significant advantage in subsequent contract negotiations, costing Australia hundreds of millions of dollars.' Mr Burgess said too many were complacent about the cost of espionage and urged 'all parts of our system – public and private, federal, state and local – to recognise the threat'. 'I've lost count of the number of times senior officials and executives have privately downplayed the impacts of espionage,' he said. 'I've watched corporate leaders literally shrug their shoulders when told their networks are compromised. 'I've heard sensible security measures such as taking burner phones to high-risk countries described as unreasonable inconveniences. 'Most recently, a trade official told ASIO there's no way the Chinese intelligence services would have any interest in his organisation's people and premises in China.' Russia, led by President Vladimir Putin, was singled out by ASIO boss Mike Burgess. Picture: NewsWire / POOL / AFP / Mikhail Metzel He again listed China, Russia and Iran as three of the main nations behind espionage in Australia and said Russia remained 'a persistent and aggressive espionage threat'. 'Last year, two Russian-born Australian citizens were arrested and charged with an espionage-related offence,' Mr Burgess said. 'Separately, I can confirm in 2022 a number of undeclared Russian intelligence officers were removed from this country. 'But Russia is by no means the only country we have to deal with. 'You would be genuinely shocked by the number and names of countries trying to steal our secrets. 'The obvious candidates are very active … but many other countries are also targeting anyone and anything that could give them a strategic or tactical advantage, including sensitive but unclassified information.' Mr Burgess revealed ASIO had disrupted 24 'major espionage and foreign interference' operations in the past three years alone. 'Nation states are spying at unprecedented levels, with unprecedented sophistication,' he said. 'ASIO is seeing more Australians targeted – more aggressively – than ever before.' While AUKUS and military technology secrets were targets, Australia's intellectual property and cutting edge research was also in the sights of foreign agents. ASIO director-general Mike Burgess said spies were targeting Australia's cutting edge research and technology as well as defence secrets. Picture: NewsWire / Martin Ollman He said an overseas delegation visiting a 'sensitive Australian horticultural facility' snapped branches off a 'rare and valuable variety of fruit tree' in order to steal them. 'Almost certainly, the stolen plant material allowed scientists in the other country to reverse engineer and replicate two decades of Australian research and development,' he said. He said foreign intelligence services are 'proactive, creative and opportunistic' in their targets. 'In recent years, for example, defence employees travelling overseas have been subjected to covert room searches, been approached at conferences by spies in disguise and given gifts containing surveillance devices. 'Defence is alert to these threats and works closely with ASIO to counter them.'
Perth Now
2 days ago
- Perth Now
ASIO boss reveals huge cost of espionage
Foreign espionage is costing the Australian economy at least $12.5bn a year, with the ASIO boss warning against complacency against the 'real, present and costly danger'. The director-general of security agency Mike Burgess has for the first time publicly put a dollar figure on what foreign spies are costing Australia and espionage remains one of the country's principal security concerns. 'This is critical because I believe that we need to wake up to the cost of espionage – which is more than just financial,' he said in the annual Hawke Lecture at the University of Adelaide on Thursday night. 'We need to understand espionage is not some quaint, romantic fiction; it's a real, present and costly danger.' ASIO director-general Mike Burgess issued his warning delivering the annual Hawke Lecture at Adelaide University. NewsWire / Martin Ollman Credit: News Corp Australia Mr Burgess released a new report that ASIO developed with the Australian Institute of Criminology, to try to count the cost of espionage. The report found espionage cost the Australian economy at least $12.5bn in the 2023-2024 financial year, an estimate Mr Burgess called 'conservative'. 'This includes the direct costs of known espionage incidents, such as the state-sponsored theft of intellectual property, as well as the indirect costs of countering and responding,' he said. 'As just one example, the Institute estimates foreign cyber spies stole nearly $2bn of trade secrets and intellectual property from Australian companies and businesses in 2023-24. 'The report includes a case study where spies hacked into the computer network of a major Australian exporter, making off with commercially sensitive information. 'The theft gave the foreign country a significant advantage in subsequent contract negotiations, costing Australia hundreds of millions of dollars.' Mr Burgess said too many were complacent about the cost of espionage and urged 'all parts of our system – public and private, federal, state and local – to recognise the threat'. 'I've lost count of the number of times senior officials and executives have privately downplayed the impacts of espionage,' he said. 'I've watched corporate leaders literally shrug their shoulders when told their networks are compromised. 'I've heard sensible security measures such as taking burner phones to high-risk countries described as unreasonable inconveniences. 'Most recently, a trade official told ASIO there's no way the Chinese intelligence services would have any interest in his organisation's people and premises in China.' Russia, led by President Vladimir Putin, was singled out by ASIO boss Mike Burgess. NewsWire / POOL / AFP / Mikhail Metzel Credit: NewsWire He again listed China, Russia and Iran as three of the main nations behind espionage in Australia and said Russia remained 'a persistent and aggressive espionage threat'. 'Last year, two Russian-born Australian citizens were arrested and charged with an espionage-related offence,' Mr Burgess said. 'Separately, I can confirm in 2022 a number of undeclared Russian intelligence officers were removed from this country. 'But Russia is by no means the only country we have to deal with. 'You would be genuinely shocked by the number and names of countries trying to steal our secrets. 'The obvious candidates are very active … but many other countries are also targeting anyone and anything that could give them a strategic or tactical advantage, including sensitive but unclassified information.' Mr Burgess revealed ASIO had disrupted 24 'major espionage and foreign interference' operations in the past three years alone. 'Nation states are spying at unprecedented levels, with unprecedented sophistication,' he said. 'ASIO is seeing more Australians targeted – more aggressively – than ever before.' While AUKUS and military technology secrets were targets, Australia's intellectual property and cutting edge research was also in the sights of foreign agents. ASIO director-general Mike Burgess said spies were targeting Australia's cutting edge research and technology as well as defence secrets. NewsWire / Martin Ollman Credit: News Corp Australia He said an overseas delegation visiting a 'sensitive Australian horticultural facility' snapped branches off a 'rare and valuable variety of fruit tree' in order to steal them. 'Almost certainly, the stolen plant material allowed scientists in the other country to reverse engineer and replicate two decades of Australian research and development,' he said. He said foreign intelligence services are 'proactive, creative and opportunistic' in their targets. 'In recent years, for example, defence employees travelling overseas have been subjected to covert room searches, been approached at conferences by spies in disguise and given gifts containing surveillance devices. 'Defence is alert to these threats and works closely with ASIO to counter them.'
ABC News
13-07-2025
- ABC News
Game-changing Australian olive processing promises fruity flavour, lower farm costs
Table olives are among one of the most polarising foods — people either love them or hate them. A world-first processing method crafting an Australian-style table olive is aiming to change that, transforming the fruit's flavour while also reducing labour and water usage. John Fielke, a professor of mechanical engineering at the University of South Australia, is behind the innovation set to revolutionise the table olive industry. He is on a mission to change how people think about the complex fruit. Professor Fielke said judges at table olive competitions he entered compared the tasting notes of his table olives to descriptors of what people would find "on a fine bottle of wine". "The flavour comments [for the olives] are notes of passionfruit, citrus, berries," he said. The patented method coined "Olives the Australian Way" has also proven to be more sustainable and efficient, keeping the brine to cure the olives from start to finish. For olives to be edible, the fruit requires processing to remove its natural bitterness. Different curing methods, like lye treatment or natural fermentation in brine, then form part of producing the olives' distinct characteristics and flavour notes. Spanish, Greek and Californian-style olives are the most common produced on a commercial scale, but their processing methods are time- and labour-intensive, known for their high water usage and wastewater disposal requirement. Professor Fielke's processing method relies on chemistry to capture the fruit's bitter compounds in the brine and filtration systems recirculating it. "We are putting our olives in the brine in the orchard. [We] keep that brine clear through to our finished pack-out, and repack our brine with our olives. Industry data shows most table olives sold in Australia are imported, with only 3,000 tonnes produced domestically. Australian Olive Association chief executive Michael Southan sees large economic opportunities in the innovation to shift the country's industry. "It will not only grow the production of locally produced table olives, but it's a technology that will be able to be used around the world. It has huge potential." The table olive processing innovation is a lifeline for farmers like George Kratopoulos, who has been battling low return prices and high labour costs. He now regrets reducing his Taylorville family grove in South Australia from the initial 14,000 trees his father planted in the 1970s to 3,000 trees today. As olives bruise easily, he previously had about 20 workers hand-picking each table olive to be sent to produce markets in Sydney and Brisbane. The new method gives Mr Kratopoulos the opportunity to machine-harvest his crop, making the process more efficient. "It's going to be a lot cheaper, there'll be not much labour costs and it's a win-win on both sides," he said. Harvesting the crop straight into brine also cuts his on-farm food waste. "Once we've shaken the fruit, if there's any damage it stops the deterioration automatically, whereas in fresh markets that bruising will show and we'll have to take it out and there is a lot of wastage," Mr Kratopoulos said. He described the new processing method as a "game-changer" giving him hope for a brighter future in the industry. Supported by an Australian Economic Accelerator Seed grant, the innovation aims to raise the country's table olive production 30-fold to 100,000 tonnes in the next 10 to 15 years. The project has reached semi-commercial scale and proven it has plated up fresh debittered olives to consumers quicker. "That is more than halving the traditional time taken from the farm to the market." He and his wife Sue Fielke processed 82 tonnes of table olives this season, with the aim to triple the intake next year. Despite the opportunities the innovation offers, there are major challenges to scaling up because not enough table olives are grown in Australia, according to Mr Southan. "We really need to see more production of olives, and that's both from a productivity point of view, so getting more olives off each tree, and we need more trees," he said. Investment in further bulk processing facilities was an additional barrier to overcome, Professor Fielke said. "We need larger-scale facilities that can be fully automated, computer-controlled and be reliable." While getting table olives onto plates quicker, the new flavours are also attracting food producers and wholesalers. Mount Zero Olives director Richard Seymour is one of the earlier adopters, who considers himself originally a traditionalist. "I'm really interested in the thousands of years of history of fermentation of table olives, but now I'm certainly tending towards a convert to this method," he said. "I think it's creating some really beautiful flavours." He said he believed the surprising fresh, herbaceous, cut-grass characters akin to extra-virgin olive oil had the potential to put Australia on the world map. Watch ABC TV's Landline at 12:30pm AEST on Sunday or stream anytime on ABC iview.
