That efforts are part of a major national security priority shift in Washington, which recently singled out Russia and China as posing key strategic security concerns, as well as in Australia, where agencies are focused on Chinese government operations. Andrew Colvin. Credit:Elesa Kurtz Two senior security sources said a new joint-agency taskforce, modelled on the Joint Counter Terrorism Taskforce but focusing on covert foreign influence operations, was being considered under the Home Affairs Department. Under the model, federal agents assigned to the taskforce would mirror the work of the FBI’s counter-espionage taskforces, which have run major investigations into suspects alleged to be spying on behalf of foreign governments or engaged in influence operations. Loading Replay Replay video Play video Play video

The move would further expand the federal police’s remit, placing pressure on their already stretched resourcing, and comes as lawyers and activist groups warn laws introduced in December by the Turnbull government to counter foreign interference risk undermining civil liberties. Loading Leading media companies, including Fairfax Media and News Corp, and the group Australian Lawyers for Human Rights, have warned that the new laws may undermine press freedom or the work of NGOs or activist groups such as GetUp. The laws create obligations to register certain fundraising and advocacy activities. NGO Human Rights Watch has warned the new laws "risk criminalising the legitimate actions of whistleblowers, journalists, and human rights activists, and will have a chilling effect on disclosing information in the public interest". But new submissions to the joint parliamentary committee on intelligence and security provide ballast for those arguing for more transparency of Australian organisations that are closely aligned to the Chinese government, and its main vehicle for foreign interference, the United Front Work Department. Increasing transparency is a key objective of the proposed laws.

A lengthy submission by prominent left-leaning academic Professor Clive Hamilton names dozens of United Front organisations in Australia, describing their cultivation of Labor and Liberal politicians. The submission is the most detailed expose´ of Chinese government influence operations in Australia to ever be published. Author Clive Hamilton has written a book on Chinese Communist Party influence. Credit:Rohan Thomson Mr Hamilton’s submission states that “the core of Beijing’s presence on university campuses” is represented by at least 37 Chinese Students and Scholars Associations “covering nearly all Australian universities, including all Group of Eight universities, as well as the CSIRO”. “CSSAs play a central role in the Chinese government’s efforts to monitor, control and intervene in the lives of Chinese students in Australia and to limit academic freedom on universities,” the submission states. Suspected efforts to infiltrate or steal data from the CSIRO have previously been investigated by police and intelligence agencies. A Chinese researcher’s bizarre conduct at the CSIRO’s materials science and engineering division in Melbourne in 2013 - the researcher failed to turn up to work for several days before telling colleagues he had unexpectedly flown to China - was the subject of an unresolved AFP probe. The researcher later flew to France and has declined to be formally interviewed, according to security sources.

Mr Hamilton and ANU researcher Alex Joske also warn in the submission that Australia’s business community is hosting “a proliferation of front organisations whose purpose is to deepen personal relationships … and subtly shift the perspective of the [Australian business community] to an understanding that suits the CCP’s [Chinese Communist Party’s] interests.” The submission identifies several key United Front business organisations, including the Melbourne-based Australian-China Belt & Road Initiative (ACBRI), which is partly funded by the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade and linked to Andrew Robb, Australia’s former trade minister. Mr Robb is a major critic of the Turnbull government’s plans to tackle foreign interference but has also received criticism for accepting an $880,000 yearly consultancy from a Chinese company with close links to Beijing and which is a fierce advocate for the Belt and Road initiative. The initiative is a signature policy of Chinese President Xi Jinping. The ambitious global trade and infrastructure project is widely viewed as an effort to expand Chinese government influence globally. In a media statement, the ACBRI said it “does not accept funding from Chinese government or Chinese companies and operates with full disclosure” to DFAT. Mr Hamilton’s submission also examines the creation of the Australian China Research Institute by Sydney businessman Huang Xiangmo, a “wealthy individual with close but hidden links to” Beijing and who has boasted that he selected former foreign minister Bob Carr as the institute’s director. Mr Xiangmo’s application to become an Australian citizen has stalled over security concerns held by ASIO.

The dealings between Labor senator Sam Dastyari and Mr Huang, who no longer funds the research institute, led to Mr Dastyari’s resignation last year.