by Ganesh Sahathevan
Before any reader gets hot and bothered and starts hyper-ventilating at the very thought of any senior Australian public servant being corrupt or corruptible ("it happens in Asia, not here") ,this story is about how our chief spy Duncan Lewis has effectively put himself on the market,and advertised himself to ever present buyers of information and influence.
The first step in his self-advertisement was to make himself known. While it is often no longer the case here and overseas that the identities of the heads of intelligence services are kept secret, one must still go looking, and know enough to look in the right places to find their names. Simply googling "chief spook" often does not work. Most foreign and even regional agencies prefer to call their spy agencies "research divisions" or "analysis departments". Here on the other hand Duncan Lewis has embarked on a media campaign, giving interviews and using his office to launch PR campaigns in defence of himself and his actions.
Consequently, even the most junior analyst at any number of private and government "research divisions" or "analysis departments" would by now have a complete file of the current head of ASIO's name, photo, CV, political, cultural and religious leanings, family, and contact details.
It is only natural that inducements be offered for his services, even if he chooses to remain head of ASIO or hold any other public post. Of course, no one is expecting that he , a former soldier , a retired major general no less,would breach his oath of secrecy should he go to work for anyone else..................
In any case, this writer would be happy to broker a deal.To quote one M.Turnbull, his boss who has on a number of occasions described Duncan Lewis and ASIO as "best in the world", it is only business.
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