The head of Australia's domestic spy agency has acknowledged that resources were redirected from counterterrorism to espionage and foreign interference investigations years before a deadly attack on a Hanukkah celebration in Sydney.
ASIO Chief Testifies at Antisemitism Inquiry
Mike Burgess, director-general of the Australian Security Intelligence Organization (ASIO), appeared before a government inquiry into the spread of antisemitism on Monday. He revealed that the agency had shifted its focus away from counterterrorism prior to the December 14 attack at Bondi Beach, where two gunmen killed 15 people.
In November 2022, ASIO lowered the national terrorism threat level from 'probable' to 'possible' after the Islamic State group's defeat in the Middle East. This allowed the agency to allocate more resources to foreign interference and espionage cases, though Burgess insisted that counterterrorism remained a priority.
'Because terrorism has the potential to cause people to lose their lives or get harmed, it always remained a priority for us. There was just less activity that we were investigating because the nature of the environment had changed and the number of tasks we were looking at had reduced,' Burgess told the inquiry.
'At the same time, every rock we lifted up we found espionage or foreign interference that needed to be inquired and investigated and so resources were moved over there,' he added.
Warnings After October 7 Attack
Burgess noted that five days after the Hamas-led attack on Israel on October 7, 2023, he took the unprecedented step of issuing a public statement warning that inflammatory language could lead to violence. 'Before the Israeli government responded to that horrific attack, we saw the strong emotions appear in this country where we had people celebrating the Hamas terrorist attack,' he said.
ASIO observed threatening and intimidating behavior directed at Jewish Australians through the end of 2023, particularly in New South Wales, Victoria, and Queensland. This behavior escalated to target Jewish businesses and places of worship by October 2024, prompting ASIO to raise the terrorism threat level back to 'probable' in August 2024.
Security Lapses at Hanukkah Event
The Royal Commission on Antisemitism and Social Cohesion, Australia's highest form of inquiry, is investigating the attack. It must report before the first anniversary of the nation's worst mass shooting since 1996.
Father and son gunmen, Sajid and Naveed Akram, allegedly inspired by the Islamic State, brought handmade IS flags to Bondi. Both were wounded in a gunfight with police less than eight minutes after the shooting began. The father died, while the son has been charged with committing a terrorist act, 15 counts of murder, and 40 counts of attempted murder. He has not entered a plea.
Senior Counsel Assisting the Royal Commission, Richard Lancaster, revealed that only four police officers were present at the event when the gunmen opened fire on a crowd of around 1,000 people. Within 29 seconds, 10 people had been fatally shot and an 11th wounded. Within five minutes, 11 officers arrived, three of whom were wounded.
The Jewish security organization Community Security Group had requested the New South Wales Police Force to post officers at the beachfront park for the duration of the event. Instead, officers were instructed to attend periodically. Police had assigned the Hanukkah celebration the lowest security priority on a three-tier scale, with resources managed by a local commander. In contrast, Jewish High Holy Days in September and October were top-tier events managed by specialized police units.
'There is no evidence that any intelligence agency or law enforcement agency had any actual knowledge or specific information to suggest there might be an armed attack on the Hanukkah celebration,' Lancaster said. 'In that sense, it was a surprise attack.'
