Mike Burgess

Mike Burgess is the Director-General of Security, leading the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation (ASIO). He is in the news due to two recent events. First, he held a secret meeting with Israeli President Isaac Herzog during Herzog's visit to Australia. This meeting has been described as 'unprecedented' by Senator David Pocock, raising questions about the appropriateness of granting a foreign head of state access to domestic intelligence agencies. Second, Burgess's role is relevant in the context of potential new 'hate speech' laws being considered by the Labor government. The Australian chapter of Hizb ut-Tahrir, an Islamist group, has stated it does not intend to disband before the legislation is enacted. This places ASIO, under Burgess's leadership, in a position to potentially monitor and assess the group's activities and whether they fall under the scope of the new laws.