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2025 Lowy Lecture: Mike Burgess AM
ASIO Director-General Mike Burgess delivers the 2025 Lowy Lecture, examining unprecedented threats to Australia's security and social cohesion. Burgess reveals how international conflicts, great power competition, and rapid technological change are creating a domestic security environment unlike anything Australia has faced before. He organises threats into three cohorts: the aggrieved (individuals), the opportunistic (extremist groups), and the cunning (hostile nation states).
Mr Burgess is Australia’s 14th Director-General of Security and has led ASIO since September 2019. ASIO protects Australia and Australians from threats to the country’s security. Mr Burgess has spent more than three decades as an intelligence, security and technology professional, in both the public and private sectors. His experience includes code making, code breaking, cyber security, counter-terrorism and counter-intelligence.
The Lowy Lecture is the Institute’s flagship event and one of the world’s leading lecture series. Past Lowy Lecturers have included leaders such as German Chancellor Angela Merkel, UK Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson, WTO Director-General Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala and US National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan, as well as four sitting Australian prime ministers: Anthony Albanese, Scott Morrison, Malcolm Turnbull and John Howard, who delivered the inaugural Lowy Lecture in 2005.
The Lowy Institute is grateful for the support of our event partners: Mercer, Scentre Group and Boeing.
Introduction & International Context (0:00-9:09) ASIO disrupts foreign espionage offshore. Russia targets Ukraine supporters in Australia. Middle East conflict heightens domestic tensions. Record espionage attempts.
Technology as Threat Accelerator (10:29-11:21) Internet incubates grievance. Social media accelerates extremism. AI exacerbates disinformation.
Three Cohorts Threatening Social Cohesion (12:13-13:35)
"The aggrieved tear at our social fabric. The opportunistic take advantage of weaknesses. The cunning nation states divide and distract us."
The Aggrieved (13:40-15:30) Growing grievance. Anti-authority ideologies spreading. Declining institutional trust. Violence as political tool.
The Opportunistic (15:37-20:15) Neo-Nazis exploit "March for Australia." Anti-Israel activists threaten: "We have your addresses." Hizb ut-Tahrir normalizes anti-Semitism. Groups test legal boundaries.
The Cunning (20:16-26:11) Iran directed arson on Jewish targets via cutouts. Russia spreads disinformation. Unknown state creates fake terrorist propaganda. Three nations capable of assassination in Australia.
"This threat is real."
Everyone's Business (25:43-29:06)
"You cannot spy your way to greater cohesion or arrest your way to fewer grievances."
Australia's stabilizers: sovereign parliament, resilient communities, growing economy.
"Your business might not be in national security, but that doesn't mean national security is not your business."
Assassination threat (30:32) Real intelligence. Three nations identified. Public warning.
Iran (31:40) Entirely ASIO's work. Made public August 2024.
China (34:47) "How do you know I wasn't talking about things China did?" IP theft. Political interference. Officials complain to everyone except ASIO.
US relationships (42:05) "As strong as it ever been." Focus: saving lives.
"Awful but lawful" (40:02) Groups stretch boundaries. Need societal rejection beyond prosecution.
Five Eyes (43:19) WWII trust. "Share fully." Australia punches above weight.
Featuring
Mike Burgess
Mike Burgess is Australia’s 14th Director-General of Security and has led the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation (ASIO) since September 2019.
Michael Fullilove
Dr Michael Fullilove AM is the Executive Director of the Lowy Institute.
Steven M. Lowy
Steven Lowy AM is Deputy Chairman of the Lowy Institute and a Principal of LFG, the Lowy Family Group's private investment and family office.
Jillian Broadbent
Ms Jillian Broadbent AC is a Director of Macquarie Group Limited and a Board Member of the Lowy Institute.
