Chief defends ASIO’s resourcing after Bondi

ASIO director-general Mike Burgess told the Royal Commission the spy agency “pivoted” resources away from counterterrorism to focus on foreign interference in 2022, but insists the shift did not leave counterterrorism work under-resourced. Giving evidence on Monday, Burgess said ASIO identified antisemitism as “one of its most pressing priorities” in 2025 after the national terrorism threat level was raised back to “probable” in August 2024.

He acknowledged the security environment changed dramatically after Hamas’s October 7, 2023 terrorist attack on Israel leading to increased antisemitism in Australia. Five days after October 7, Burgess issued an unprecedented statement warning that “inflamed language can lead to tensions and can lead to violence”.

It was noted that while there was an overall increase in funding to the National Intelligence Community, the proportion of funding allocated to counterterrorism significantly declined from 2020 to 2025. Asked if, in retrospect, he would consider whether additional funding and resources would have put ASIO in a better position to pursue its counter-terrorism activities, Burgess replied, “No, I don’t. In retrospect, I still think that our resourcing was sufficient for the problems we face.”

Regarding the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC)’s involvement in antisemitism in Australia including the arson attacks on the Adass Israel synagogue and Lewis’ Continental Kitchen, Burgess replied, “The IRGC was behind those, and by behind those we mean they used their network of proxies and agents to do their bidding, and that is to bring harm to Jewish people wherever they are in the world.”

Burgess said Iran may be behind other antisemitic incidents in Australia.

Burgess said ASIO released a threat assessment after the Manchester synagogue terrorist attack in October 2025, and for the holiday period in December 2025, which stated, “The most likely attack will occur at a crowded place or gathering.” He said ASIO had “no specific intelligence suggesting an attack was being planned against Jewish interests in Australia” in relation to the Bondi massacre.

Discussing the terrorism risk currently at “probable”, Burgess said, “We have a concerning trajectory, as it’s getting hotter in terms of there is more permission for violence, and an environment where people can go to violence with little or no warning means it’s kind of, on the upper end of ‘probable’, the next level up is ‘expected’, but in the current system that requires us to have specific intelligence that there is a plan and a location for an act of terror.”

Royal Commission on Antisemitism and Social Cohesion: Hearing Block 2, day one

Royal Commission on Antisemitism and Social Cohesion: Hearing Block 2, day two

Royal Commission on Antisemitism and Social Cohesion: Hearing Block 2, day 3