Nath@aussie.zone 4 months ago
If all of these charges are true, it appears two Russian spies came to Australia, obtained citizenship, and one subsequently obtained clearance to some documents through some form of employment in the ADF. If all that is true, I am glad they have been caught. I can’t really blame them, though - that sort of thing is what spies do.
Since they are citizens, you could technically call them Australians, but that headline is pretty misleading. Australians are not lining up to betray their country to Russia.
TinyBreak@aussie.zone 4 months ago
In that case the ADF needs a end to end 3rd party investigation as to how they fucked up this bad. How the hell does yogi bear get employed by the national parks service?! And thats not a Russian bear jab, I just couldn’t think of a less appropriate employee to a job posting.
Nath@aussie.zone 4 months ago
Australia is full of ex-pats and dual citizens. Half of us were born overseas or have at least one parent born overseas.
These guys are an anomaly. They certainly aren’t the norm.
hitmyspot@aussie.zone 4 months ago
There is a difference being born overseas to our enemies or to our allies. Surely the checks should be different.
China and Russia would seem to be a bigger risk for espionage. We already share with USA, UK and others.
Like, if you said there were two spies born in Luxembourg that were stealing Defence documents, it would be unusual and wed question why. 2 Russians (who are also Australian). Less of a surprise. Why are the Defence forces surprised?
Nath@aussie.zone 4 months ago
Enemies isn’t the right word. Australia is not at war and has no enemies. Countries with interests that conflict with ours maybe?
You probably have a point regarding risks and checks. On the other hand: while Russians aren’t that common, one in 20 Australians are of Chinese descent. That’s a lot of people to cast suspicions on without more evidence than ‘Chinese ancestry’. Hell, our minister for foreign affairs is of Chinese descent.