ASIO spy scandal: ‘No need’ for Burgees to have said anything says Alexander Downer

Former foreign minister Alexander Downer says there was “no need” for the ASIO chief Mike Burgees to say anything about a politician selling Australia out to Chinese spies without naming them. It comes as Mike Burgess promulgated that a former Australian politician who was serving in either state, territory or federal parliament at the time was recruited by a foreign intelligence service. “I think it’s an extraordinary thing to do for the head of an intelligence agency… to come out and say there is a former politician who’s been, in effect, a spy, but I’m not going to name her or him,” Mr Downer told Sky News Australia host Chris Kenny. “It’s an extraordinary thing to do, and it’s led to endless speculation as to who it may be. “There was no need for him to say that.”