this post was submitted on 12 Jul 2024
42 points (100.0% liked)

Australia

3582 readers
78 users here now

A place to discuss Australia and important Australian issues.

Before you post:

If you're posting anything related to:

If you're posting Australian News (not opinion or discussion pieces) post it to Australian News

Rules

This community is run under the rules of aussie.zone. In addition to those rules:

Banner Photo

Congratulations to @Tau@aussie.zone who had the most upvoted submission to our banner photo competition

Recommended and Related Communities

Be sure to check out and subscribe to our related communities on aussie.zone:

Plus other communities for sport and major cities.

https://aussie.zone/communities

Moderation

Since Kbin doesn't show Lemmy Moderators, I'll list them here. Also note that Kbin does not distinguish moderator comments.

Additionally, we have our instance admins: @lodion@aussie.zone and @Nath@aussie.zone

founded 1 year ago
MODERATORS
lodion@aussie.zone
Fluid@aussie.zone
bestusername@aussie.zone
eatham@aussie.zone
42
Two Australians charged with spying offences for allegedly conspiring to share ADF secrets with Russia (www.abc.net.au)
submitted 3 months ago* (last edited 3 months ago) by PetulantBandicoot@aussie.zone to c/australia@aussie.zone
8 comments fedilink hide all child comments
 

  • In short: Two Russian-born Australians have been charged with spying offences, the first time the new laws have been used.

  • The couple allegedly conspired to send sensitive Australian Defence Force material to Russian authorities.

  • What's next? Police say further spying charges could be laid as Operation BURGAZADA continues.

๐Ÿš”

you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments
[โ€“] Nath@aussie.zone 7 points 3 months ago (1 children)

Enemies isn't the right word. Australia is not at war and has no enemies. Countries with interests that conflict with ours maybe?

You probably have a point regarding risks and checks. On the other hand: while Russians aren't that common, one in 20 Australians are of Chinese descent. That's a lot of people to cast suspicions on without more evidence than 'Chinese ancestry'. Hell, our minister for foreign affairs is of Chinese descent.

[โ€“] hitmyspot@aussie.zone 2 points 3 months ago (1 children)

Non allies then. Or countries with goals in conflict with ours.

Chines ancestry is not the same as being a Chinese citizen. They already check for many things, when assessing whether you are suitable for access to secrets. Sounds like it might be more tick the box than actual checks.

My partner is in Defence. I know people of many nationalities that serve. I was surprised it was allowed, initially but it makes sense in the context of Australian people being born overseas commonly. I'm also Australian with dual citizenship. I would consider myself more if a risk than my kids, for instance. I wouldn't betray Australia and love life here. However if my family were threatened that might change things. That's not uncommon in China or Russia from my understanding.