Australia’s intelligence leader has spoken for the first time about a recently foiled foreign intervention attempt, sending a warning ahead of the country’s impending elections.
The case featured a wealthy individual with “deep connections to a foreign government,” according to Mike Burgess, director-general of the Australian Security and Intelligence Organisation.
“I’ll call this person ‘the puppeteer’,” he said during an annual threat assessment speech.
The operation, according to the director-general, was “like a foreign interference start-up,” in which the “puppeteer” funneled hundreds of thousands of dollars to an employee who set out to try to sway an election. Burgess did not say which election he was referring to.
The employee found and targeted promising political candidates who were completely unaware of the strategy.
