ASIO, the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation, is Australia’s domestic security intelligence agency. It engages in intelligence gathering, analysis and security assessments concerning matters that affect Australia’s security within Australia.
In 1973, Labor Attorney-General Lionel Murphy raided ASIO headquarters. He did so because he believed the security organisation was withholding information from the government and because he distrusted its political culture and lack of accountability.
More than fifty years later, the contrast with the Albanese Labor Party could hardly be sharper.
When Isaac Herzog came to Australia, why did the Australian government consider it appropriate for a foreign head of state to meet privately with ASIO’s Director-General, Mike Burgess? The meeting was not on the public itinerary and only became widely known after questioning in the Senate. This level of access demonstrates the exceptionally close relationship between the Australian and Israeli security agencies.
However, when talking about economics and security, it is important not to conflate the two.
1. The fact that US capital remains deeply embedded in Australia does not mean the relationship is harmonious. Trump’s tariffs demonstrate that economic dependence does not guarantee preferential treatment.
Like the rest of the world, Australia remains captive to the $US. A lot of capitalists don’t like this.
2. Australia-US military alliance is a separate question and related to Australia’s regional hegemon and major trading partner, China.
Rob Sitch cleverly highlights this in a series, Utopia. They could have come out and called that skit AUKUS.)
https://youtu.be/sgspkxfkS4k?si=9qnKbO2UTfq7LC99
“Prisioner X“
And finally, about Herzog’s visit to ASIO. That merely confirms what was already known since the Ben Zygier affair: Australian Security organisations (ASIO is only one of these) swap information with Mossad. Sometimes these swaps are not condoned by Israel.
The ABC claimed Zygier met with ASIO officers in Australia and disclosed details of Mossad operations and methods. According to those reports, Mossad became concerned that Zygier had revealed sensitive information.
Der Spiegel, Fairfax, ABC, Times of Israel and the Australian Jewish News say Zygier was trying to recruit a person in Australia connected to Hezbollah as a double agent.
To convince that person he had genuine access to Israeli intelligence, these News agencies claim he disclosed the identities of two of Israel’s spies in Lebanon: Al-Homsi and Awadeh. Because of this breach, Israeli agents arrested Zygier and placed him in the infamous Ayalon prison.
In December 2010 Zygier was found dead in his cell. An Israeli inquiry concluded that he died by suicide, although the extraordinary secrecy surrounding the case has led to continuing public speculation and unanswered questions about the circumstances of his death.
Nearly 10, 000 Palestinians remain in administrative detention tortured by Israeli authorities and now many liable to be sentenced to death by hanging such is the cruelty of this regime.
Ian Curr
5 June 2026