Joe Hockey says it is ‘absurd’ for Asio not to name former politician accused of treason

The former federal treasurer Joe Hockey says it is “absurd” that an unnamed former politician who “sold out” to a foreign regime after being recruited by spies is able to “walk off into the sunset” without their name being revealed.

He called on the Asio director general, Mike Burgess, to name the ex-politician immediately and said if he didn’t, he was allowing all former and current politicians to be smeared and would risk creating distrust among Australia’s allies.

The opposition leader, Peter Dutton, backed the call for more identifying information to be released, arguing that Burgess’ comments “besmirch” all former MPs.

Burgess announced on Wednesday night that a former Australian politician had “sold out their country, party and former colleagues” after being recruited by spies for a foreign regime.

The Asio head outlined the prolific activities of a spy network labelled “the A-team” – a spy ring dedicated to targeting Australia – but did not name the former politician or country involved.

Burgess said the former politician flagged introducing a prime minister’s family member to the spies but the plot did not go ahead. The person was not active any more and had been “neutralised”, he said.

Hockey, who is a former US ambassador, labelled the unnamed ex-politician a “traitor” and said it “wasn’t an allegation by the head of our intelligence agency, it was a statement of fact”.

“I can only think that the head of Asio was fully aware that there would be calls for that person to be named, because it is absolutely inconceivable that you would have a former politician representing their community, representing the country, who then goes and engages with a foreign adversary, and somehow they’re allowed to walk off into the sunset without having their name or their reputation revealed,” Hockey told ABC radio. “That is absurd.”

Hockey said the revelation has already raised questions in Washington DC and that it draws into question all current and former members of parliament.

“I want to know who it was,” he said. “I want to know if I was sitting in the national security committee of the cabinet with that person, I want to know if they were a colleague in the Liberal party, or if they were a colleague across the parliament. I want to know who they were, what was said to them, under what circumstances and how they used that information”.

If Burgess wasn’t in a position to name the person he shouldn’t have made the information public, Hockey argued, and said he feels personally smeared as a former politician.

“The idea that you can make an allegation like that and say nothing, pretend it didn’t happen, is absolutely ridiculous. It’s crazy, and it’s unsustainable,” he said.

Dutton said on Thursday that it’s “pretty rough to besmirch former politicians when [Burgess is] talking about one [person]”.

“If he doesn’t indicate the name, there’s a cloud hanging over everybody else,” he told 2GB Radio.

“If you’re putting that detail out there, as Mr Burgess has done, I think it’s incumbent to give a little bit more criteria, a little bit more of a hint about who the person is because it’s unfair on a lot former MPs who are patriotic, as 99.9% on both sides are.

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“If there’s one who is not, frankly, that person should be outed and shamed.”

The treasurer, Jim Chalmers, said what information released, and how it is released, is a “job for Asio” and that he respected the advice from its director-general.

“[Burgess] wouldn’t have done it this way if he didn’t think it was necessary to do it this way,” Chalmers told ABC radio.

The Labor minister Anika Wells said there might be “legal issues” that precluded Burgess from naming the ex-politician.

“It is a glimpse of the sophistication with which they [foreign spies] are all operating now and we are all, clearly, going to have to be far more vigilant,” she told Nine’s Today show.

Hockey said the prime minister or relevant minister should use their parliamentary privilege to name the person in parliament, when asked about potential legal ramifications.

The defence minister, Richard Marles, said speculation about the ex-politician was not helpful and that the main issue was the threat of foreign interference in Australia’s affairs.

“There’s a whole range of reasons why individuals would not be named, and that detail is not out there, so I respect the decision that Asio have made in relation to this,” he told ABC television.

Marles believed the person would have committed a crime in terms of the scenario outlined by Burgess. His concern was that a person had “sold out both their colleagues and their country”, and that there was “a threat out there”.

Marles, also the deputy prime minister, said Asio had provided briefings about the threat.

“I’m not aware of specific people that have been targeted, but I am aware of other efforts to target Australian politicians, which, again, is why I think it’s really important that this situation has been brought to light in the assessment that the director general has made,” he said. “It is something that politicians obviously need to have in mind. And we do.”

Marles said the threat extended beyond politicians to anyone in public service.