Displaying items by tag: ASIO

Former Independent senator Nick Xenophon has put the cat among the pigeons, pointing out that while Chinese vendor Huawei has been banned from supplying gear to the 5G networks, Telstra, which gets its 5G gear from a joint-venture arrangement between Ericsson and Panda Electronics, faces no such strictures.

Privacy is paramount but not total, because there is a balance between privacy and security, ASIO chief Mike Burgess claims, adding that "under the rule of law when appropriate warrants are in place, law enforcement or ASIO should be able to get access to something".

China-bashing has been a popular sport in the Australian media this year, with retired spooks and Australian politicians indulging themselves. The main game appears to be for the spooks to gain influence in determining foreign policy and get the government to allocate more funds for their operations.