Russian-born Australian couple charged with espionage

An Australian soldier and her husband are accused of accessing ADF material for Russia.

Transcript

00:00with the first ever espionage related charge since new laws were introduced in

00:072018. They are a woman aged 40 and a man aged 62. The woman is an army private in

00:17the Australian Defence Force. The AFP arrested the married couple yesterday

00:23morning at their Everton Park home in Brisbane. They have been charged with one

00:30count each of preparing for an espionage offence which carries a maximum penalty

00:37of 15 years imprisonment. They will appear before Brisbane Magistrates Court

00:43today. The Counter Foreign Interference Task Force which includes AFP, ASIO and

00:51other Commonwealth partners has dedicated significant resources and capability to

00:58Operation Burgosada. The AFP will allege the individuals worked together to access

01:05Australian Defence Force material that related to Australia's national security

01:10interests. We allege the woman was undertaking non-declared travel to

01:17Russia whilst she was on long-term leave from the Australian Defence Force. We

01:24allege that while she was in Russia she instructed her husband who remained in

01:30Australia on how to log into her official work account from their Brisbane

01:36home. We allege her husband would access requested material and would send to his

01:43wife in Russia. We allege they sought that information with the intention of

01:49providing it to Russian authorities. Whether that information was handed over

01:55remains a key focus of our investigation. There are a couple of critical points

02:02that I want to make today. This alleged criminality has been disrupted. Currently

02:10no significant compromise has been identified. Our Five Eyes partners and the

02:17Australian Government can be confident that the robust partnerships within the

02:22Counter Foreign Interference Task Force mean we will continue to identify and

02:26disrupt espionage and foreign interference activity. I want to thank the

02:32very clever members of the AFP, ASIO and those individuals in the task force for

02:37their ingenuity and determination. Finally, I will also take an opportunity to speak to the

02:44public and separately state actors. Firstly to the Australian public,

02:49espionage is not a victimless crime and it is certainly growing. It has the

02:55potential to impact on Australia's sovereignty, safety and way of life. It

03:00happens in the shadows and the daylight and I ask Australians to call the

03:04National Security Hotline on 1800 123 400 if they feel something does not seem

03:10right. Secondly, we know Western democracies, including Australia, are being

03:16targeted by state actors but Australia's intelligence and law enforcement agencies

03:21have the laws, capability and tradecraft to identify these spies and those

03:27seeking to undermine Australia's interests.