Latest news with #AUKUSPillarII


West Australian
08-07-2025
- Business
- West Australian
Anthony Albanese's China visit: Prime Minister set to travel to Beijing, Shanghai and Chengdu from Saturday
Anthony Albanese has confirmed his visit to China from Saturday, when he is heading to Beijing, Shanghai and Chengdu. The Prime Minister is expected to meet Chinese President Xi Jinping and Premier Li Qiang for the annual bilateral leaders' dialogue during the trip that will span nearly a week. Trade is expected to be high on the agenda, with these meetings the first since China lifted its final barriers on Australian exports. The ban on Australian lobsters was lifted in December. 'China's an important trading partner for Australia – 25 per cent of our exports go to China. What that means is jobs, and one of the things that my government prioritises is jobs,' Mr Albanese said on Tuesday. 'What we have done is to get rid of the more than $20 billion of impediments on goods that were stopped from going to China. 'It's made an enormous difference … products like wine and barley have not just bounced back, they've bounced back higher than they were before.' This will be the fourth time Mr Albanese has met Mr Xi. The talks come as uncertainty continues around US President Donald Trump's tariffs. The US President has publicly issued letters he has sent to several countries, including Japan, South Korea, Malaysia, Indonesia, South Africa and Serbia, informing them he will lift the rate of tariffs imposed on them from 10 per cent to a 'reciprocal' level from August 1. Australia, which has a trade surplus with the US, does not expect to be hit with anything higher than the 10 per cent base rate. China's ambassador to Australia, Xiao Qian, this week called for Australia to expand its trade deal with his country to include greater cooperation on artificial intelligence. Mr Albanese brushed off questions about his approach to this, saying Australia would determine its own policy. Australia is working with the US and UK to cooperate on developing AI and advanced military capabilities as part of AUKUS Pillar II.


The Independent
19-02-2025
- Politics
- The Independent
Australian spy boss says 3 foreign governments plotted to harm people in Australia
An Australian spy agency had discovered three foreign governments plotting to physically harm people living in Australia, a security boss said on Wednesday. Mike Burgess, Director General of the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation, the nation's main domestic spy agency known as ASIO, did not name the countries in his latest annual address outlining threats to the country. One government attempted to trick a human rights advocate into traveling from Australia to a third country where plotters planned to injure or kill their target. ASIO intervened to prevent the travel. 'In a small number of cases, we held grave fears for the life of the person being targeted,' Burgess said in a speech at ASIO headquarters in the national capital Canberra. Another government planned to harm or kill one or more people in Australia as part of a broader plot to eliminate critics around the world. Working with international security agencies, ASIO disrupted the operation at an early stage. In both cases, the plotters were offshore and beyond the reach of Australian law. Burgess didn't detail the third country's plot. Collaboration between ASIO and the US In a wide-ranging speech, Burgess revealed ASIO had alerted U.S. authorities to a 12-year-old boy plotting mass shootings in the United States. ASIO online operators found a self-professed neo-Nazi on a popular social networking site. The boy talked about live streaming a school shooting and then moving on to a church, synagogue or mosque. The Australian spy agency also discovered a cyber unit from an unnamed foreign government that targeted critical infrastructure networks in the U.S. The same unit routinely tried to explore and exploit Australia's networks, mapping systems to lay down malware or maintain access in the future. 'ASIO worked closely with our American counterpart to evict the hackers and shut down their global accesses, including nodes here in Australia,' Burgess said. Spies target Australia's AUKUS partnership with the US and UK Foreign spy agencies targeted Australia's AUKUS partnership with the U.S. and Britain that will deliver an Australian fleet of submarines powered by U.S. nuclear technology. AUKUS is an acronym for Australia, the United Kingdom, and the United States. In addition to the submarine deal, AUKUS Pillar II involves cooperation on a wider range of security technologies including artificial intelligence, electronic warfare and hypersonic systems. 'ASIO has identified foreign services seeking to target AUKUS to position themselves to collect on the capabilities, how Australia intends to use them, and to undermine the confidence of our allies," Burgess said. 'AUKUS will remain a priority target for intelligence collection, including by countries we consider friendly,' he said, without naming those countries.

Yahoo
19-02-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Australian spy boss says 3 foreign governments plotted to harm people in Australia
MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) — An Australian spy agency had discovered three foreign governments plotting to physically harm people living in Australia, a security boss said on Wednesday. Mike Burgess, secretary-general of the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation, the nation's main domestic spy agency known as ASIO, did not name the countries in his latest annual address outlining threats to the country. One government attempted to trick a human rights advocate into traveling from Australia to a third country where plotters planned to injure or kill their target. ASIO intervened to prevent the travel. See for yourself — The Yodel is the go-to source for daily news, entertainment and feel-good stories. By signing up, you agree to our Terms and Privacy Policy. 'In a small number of cases, we held grave fears for the life of the person being targeted,' Burgess said in a speech at ASIO headquarters in the national capital Canberra. Another government planned to harm or kill one or more people in Australia as part of a broader plot to eliminate critics around the world. Working with international security agencies, ASIO disrupted the operation at an early stage. In both cases, the plotters were offshore and beyond the reach of Australian law. Burgess didn't detail the third country's plot. Collaboration between ASIO and the US In a wide-ranging speech, Burgess revealed ASIO had alerted U.S. authorities to a 12-year-old boy plotting mass shootings in the United States. ASIO online operators found a self-professed neo-Nazi on a popular social networking site. The boy talked about live streaming a school shooting and then moving on to a church, synagogue or mosque. The Australian spy agency also discovered a cyber unit from an unnamed foreign government that targeted critical infrastructure networks in the U.S. The same unit routinely tried to explore and exploit Australia's networks, mapping systems to lay down malware or maintain access in the future. 'ASIO worked closely with our American counterpart to evict the hackers and shut down their global accesses, including nodes here in Australia,' Burgess said. Spies target Australia's AUKUS partnership with the US and UK Foreign spy agencies targeted Australia's AUKUS partnership with the U.S. and Britain that will deliver an Australian fleet of submarines powered by U.S. nuclear technology. AUKUS is an acronym for Australia, the United Kingdom, and the United States. In addition to the submarine deal, AUKUS Pillar II involves cooperation on a wider range of security technologies including artificial intelligence, electronic warfare and hypersonic systems. 'ASIO has identified foreign services seeking to target AUKUS to position themselves to collect on the capabilities, how Australia intends to use them, and to undermine the confidence of our allies," Burgess said. 'AUKUS will remain a priority target for intelligence collection, including by countries we consider friendly,' he said, without naming those countries.


Boston Globe
19-02-2025
- Politics
- Boston Globe
Australian spy boss says 3 foreign governments plotted to harm people in Australia
'In a small number of cases, we held grave fears for the life of the person being targeted,' Burgess said in a speech at ASIO headquarters in the national capital Canberra. Another government planned to harm or kill one or more people in Australia as part of a broader plot to eliminate critics around the world. Working with international security agencies, ASIO disrupted the operation at an early stage. In both cases, the plotters were offshore and beyond the reach of Australian law. Advertisement Burgess didn't detail the third country's plot. Collaboration between ASIO and the US In a wide-ranging speech, Burgess revealed ASIO had alerted U.S. authorities to a 12-year-old boy plotting mass shootings in the United States. ASIO online operators found a self-professed neo-Nazi on a popular social networking site. The boy talked about live streaming a school shooting and then moving on to a church, synagogue or mosque. The Australian spy agency also discovered a cyber unit from an unnamed foreign government that targeted critical infrastructure networks in the U.S. The same unit routinely tried to explore and exploit Australia's networks, mapping systems to lay down malware or maintain access in the future. 'ASIO worked closely with our American counterpart to evict the hackers and shut down their global accesses, including nodes here in Australia,' Burgess said. Spies target Australia's AUKUS partnership with the US and UK Foreign spy agencies targeted Australia's AUKUS partnership with the U.S. and Britain that will deliver an Australian fleet of submarines powered by U.S. nuclear technology. AUKUS is an acronym for Australia, the United Kingdom, and the United States. In addition to the submarine deal, AUKUS Pillar II involves cooperation on a wider range of security technologies including artificial intelligence, electronic warfare and hypersonic systems. Advertisement 'ASIO has identified foreign services seeking to target AUKUS to position themselves to collect on the capabilities, how Australia intends to use them, and to undermine the confidence of our allies,' Burgess said. 'AUKUS will remain a priority target for intelligence collection, including by countries we consider friendly,' he said, without naming those countries.


Washington Post
19-02-2025
- Politics
- Washington Post
Australian spy boss says 3 foreign governments plotted to harm people in Australia
MELBOURNE, Australia — An Australian spy agency had discovered three foreign governments plotting to physically harm people living in Australia, a security boss said on Wednesday. Mike Burgess, secretary-general of the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation, the nation's main domestic spy agency known as ASIO, did not name the countries in his latest annual address outlining threats to the country. One government attempted to trick a human rights advocate into traveling from Australia to a third country where plotters planned to injure or kill their target. ASIO intervened to prevent the travel. 'In a small number of cases, we held grave fears for the life of the person being targeted,' Burgess said in a speech at ASIO headquarters in the national capital Canberra. Another government planned to harm or kill one or more people in Australia as part of a broader plot to eliminate critics around the world. Working with international security agencies, ASIO disrupted the operation at an early stage. In both cases, the plotters were offshore and beyond the reach of Australian law. Burgess didn't detail the third country's plot. In a wide-ranging speech, Burgess revealed ASIO had alerted U.S. authorities to a 12-year-old boy plotting mass shootings in the United States. ASIO online operators found a self-professed neo-Nazi on a popular social networking site. The boy talked about live streaming a school shooting and then moving on to a church, synagogue or mosque. The Australian spy agency also discovered a cyber unit from an unnamed foreign government that targeted critical infrastructure networks in the U.S. The same unit routinely tried to explore and exploit Australia's networks, mapping systems to lay down malware or maintain access in the future. 'ASIO worked closely with our American counterpart to evict the hackers and shut down their global accesses, including nodes here in Australia,' Burgess said. Foreign spy agencies targeted Australia's AUKUS partnership with the U.S. and Britain that will deliver an Australian fleet of submarines powered by U.S. nuclear technology. AUKUS is an acronym for Australia, the United Kingdom, and the United States. In addition to the submarine deal, AUKUS Pillar II involves cooperation on a wider range of security technologies including artificial intelligence, electronic warfare and hypersonic systems. 'ASIO has identified foreign services seeking to target AUKUS to position themselves to collect on the capabilities, how Australia intends to use them, and to undermine the confidence of our allies,' Burgess said. 'AUKUS will remain a priority target for intelligence collection, including by countries we consider friendly,' he said, without naming those countries.