Islamic extremist group fuelling antisemitism

ASIO director-general Mike Burgess has warned that Australia faces an unprecedented threat from foreign governments willing to assassinate political dissidents on Australian soil, while Islamic extremist group Hizb ut-Tahrir deliberately fuels antisemitism to dangerous levels.

In a stark speech to the Lowy Institute in Sydney on Tuesday night, Burgess revealed that at least three foreign countries are capable of carrying out “lethal targeting” in Australia, with hostile regimes potentially attempting to cover their tracks like Iran did when it directed recent antisemitic attacks in Sydney and Melbourne.

“Given the degrading trajectory of our security environment and the growing willingness of regimes to conduct high-harm operations, ASIO assesses there is a realistic possibility a foreign government will attempt to assassinate a perceived dissident in Australia. This threat is real,” Burgess said.

The security chief’s warnings come as he accused Hizb ut-Tahrir of using tactics “very similar” to those of the National Socialist Network, comparing the Islamic extremist group with neo-Nazis. Amid calls for the Albanese government to proscribe Hizb ut-Tahrir as a terrorist organisation, Burgess said that the group uses anti-Israel rhetoric to fuel and normalise “wider antisemitic narratives”.

“The organisation’s condemnation of Israel and Jews attracts media attention and aids recruitment, but it deliberately stops short of promoting onshore acts of politically motivated violence,” Burgess said.

“Hizb ut-Tahrir wants to test and stretch the boundaries of legality without breaking them. As with the neo-Nazis, this does not make its behaviour acceptable.”

The Coalition has called on Labor to reconsider Hizb ut-Tahrir’s terror status. Britain, Germany, India and Indonesia are among a large group of countries that have banned the Islamic extremist group.

The ASIO chief also called out far-left ­extremists and individuals who “are increasingly willing to ­embrace or threaten violence to achieve their goals”.

Burgess said that following Hamas’s attacks on October 7, 2023, Australia has seen “more provocative protests and a notable uptick in intentionally disruptive and damaging tactics by anti-­Israel activists, including multiple acts of arson, vandalism and violent protest against defence companies accused of supplying weapon components”.

Burgess also warned that community cohesion in Australia was under siege from “multiple, cascading and intersecting threats”, with intolerance and anti-authority beliefs spreading at an unprecedented scale.

“Inflammatory rhetoric and behaviour is being normalised. Anti-authority beliefs are spreading,” he said.

Burgess said social media and artificial intelligence are “accelerating extremism and radicalisation”.

“The internet, social media platforms and artificial intelligence were fuelling grievance narratives, conspiracy theories, misinformation and echo chambers,” Burgess said.

“I am deeply concerned about the potential for AI to take online radicalisation and disinformation to entirely new levels.”

He warned that “state-sanctioned trolls” were using the internet and social media to whip up hatred and anger between different communities in Australia, including targeting the Jewish community.

To maintain cohesion, Burgess said a “whole of society” response would be necessary.

“Every one of us has a role to play protecting our social cohesion,” he said.

“Our words matter, our decisions matter, our actions matter.”