ASIO chief warns Hizb ut-Tahrir spreading antisemitic hate in Australia

ASIO Director-General Mike Burgess has compared Islamist group Hizb ut-Tahrir to neo-Nazis, accusing it of using anti-Israel sentiment to fuel antisemitism and deepen social divisions.

Delivering the annual Lowy Lecture in Sydney on Tuesday night, Burgess said the group’s “provocative behaviour, offensive rhetoric and insidious strategy” closely mirror the tactics of Australia’s National Socialist Network. He noted the legacy of the institute’s founder, Sir Frank Lowy, who is a Holocaust survivor, as a reminder of the values now under threat.

“The organisation’s condemnation of Israel and Jews attracts media attention and aids recruitment, but it deliberately stops short of promoting onshore acts of politically motivated violence,” Burgess said.

 

“Hizb ut-Tahrir wants to test and stretch the boundaries of legality without breaking them. As with the neo-Nazis, this does not make its behaviour acceptable.”

Burgess warned that the group’s rhetoric was helping to fuel and normalise wider antisemitic narratives at a time when Australia’s social cohesion was under strain. He said threats to harmony fall into three categories: the aggrieved, the opportunistic, and the cunning. Foreign powers are increasingly seeking to exploit community divisions.

“The trend increased during COVID, gained further momentum after the terrorist attacks on Israel, and accelerated during Israel’s military response,” he said, warning that these events had “raised the security temperature and undermined cohesion.”

 

Hizb ut-Tahrir, which calls for the creation of an Islamic caliphate and rejects democracy, has been banned in Britain, Germany, Indonesia and India. The Coalition has urged the Albanese government to follow suit.

Burgess confirmed that Iran directed two arson attacks against Jewish targets in Melbourne and Sydney as part of a global campaign to inflame antisemitism and “fan the flames of division”. But he stressed that while Iran was responsible for some incidents, “it is not responsible for every incident.”

The ASIO chief said the Middle East conflict had not directly inspired terrorism in Australia but had “exacerbated tension, undermined social cohesion and elevated intolerance”.

Community leaders have long warned that extremist rhetoric at protests and online has emboldened antisemitic attitudes. Burgess’s comments mark the first time ASIO has directly linked Hizb ut-Tahrir’s messaging to the mainstreaming of antisemitism in Australia.

He also noted a rise in anarchist and revolutionary extremism since the Hamas attacks, including “provocative protests, arson, vandalism and threats against defence companies accused of supplying Israel.” In one case, a group released a video threatening workers involved in defence supply chains, saying, “We have your addresses. Stop arming Israel or else.”

“Inflammatory rhetoric and provocative, disruptive actions have been normalised,” Burgess warned. “I fear the normalisation of violence and hatred against one community creates a permissive environment for similar behaviours in others.”

Burgess described Hizb ut-Tahrir’s strategy of operating within the letter of the law while spreading hostility as “deeply corrosive” and warned that social media algorithms and artificial intelligence were accelerating radicalisation and extremism.

The federal government has not indicated whether it will review Hizb ut-Tahrir’s status, despite growing pressure from opposition parties and community advocates.