IN A TENSE Senate Estimates hearing, Australian Security Intelligence Organisation (ASIO) Deputy Director-General Miss Gilmore was subjected to extended questioning by Greens Senator David Shoebridge over Israeli President Isaac Herzog’s visit to ASIO’s headquarters in the Ben Chifley Building. This may be the only instance of a Greens Party’ squid helping Australia.
The nearly 13-minute grilling reflected ongoing unease about foreign influence in Australia’s national security apparatus and the unusual decision to host a foreign head of state inside the country’s principal domestic intelligence agency.
According to Gilmore, President Herzog met with the ASIO Director-General and was briefed by counterterrorism teams on operations following the Bondi stabbing attack. She confirmed she was not personally present.
Senator Shoebridge pressed aggressively for specifics: who else attended the meeting, whether any non-ASIO Australians were present, if US officials were involved, and whether members of Israel’s Mossad accompanied the President. Gilmore took most of these questions on notice, repeatedly stating that operational details and attendee identities could not be disclosed in a public forum.
Shoebridge raised past security incidents involving Israel, including the reported insertion of backdoors into Australian Defence Force battle management software — which required costly remediation at taxpayer expense — and Mossad’s use of forged Australian passports in overseas assassination operations in a Gulf state. He asked whether these events meant Israeli security agencies should be viewed as a risk to Australian national interests. Gilmore declined to answer directly, noting that ASIO’s foreign partnerships are government-approved and overseen by the Inspector-General of Intelligence and Security.
The heart of Shoebridge’s examination focused on the purpose and precedent of the visit. He repeatedly challenged why the head of a foreign state was invited into the heart of Australia’s domestic spy agency. Gilmore responded that Herzog was a guest of the Australian Government and that ASIO maintains essential global intelligence relationships to protect Australians. However, she refused to provide any detailed rationale for the invitation or the briefing provided.
Senator Shoebridge specifically questioned the practice of such invitations, asking whether it had ever been standard procedure for ASIO to host foreign heads of state in its headquarters. Gilmore stated that, to her recollection, this had not occurred before, describing it as an extraordinary precedent in her experience.
The exchange grew testy, with Shoebridge accusing ASIO of offering non-answers and insisting the Australian public deserved transparency about why their national intelligence headquarters was opened to a foreign leader. Gilmore consistently relied on national security protocols, emphasising that such matters are unsuitable for detailed public discussion.
ASIO undertook to provide further information on notice regarding attendees and logistics. Whether those details will be released publicly is yet to be seen.
This episode, driven by Greens Senator David Shoebridge, highlights the persistent scrutiny from elements within Australian politics that often prioritise ideological positions over clear-eyed defence of Australian sovereignty and national security interests. For many concerned with Australia’s independent strategic position, the decision to grant such access to President Herzog inside ASIO’s Canberra offices raises legitimate questions about consistency, risk, and the protection of Australia’s own intelligence capabilities first and foremost.