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Opinion: This is a snapshot of your country today: politicians acting as spies for a foreign power, activists attempting to provoke a race war, and a threat to vital services which would make the hugely disruptive Optus outage look like playtime.
This is a terrifying warning. It comes from our top spy, the Director General of Security, the ASIO boss, Mike Burgess.
Deliberately, he is sounding a very loud alarm about foreign spies recruiting community leaders, the threat to the safe operation of the country, and the need for significantly improved security.
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This warning now demands immediate and broad action and it must come from the prime minister.
The starting point is names. End the secrecy.
Burgess reports that one foreign country runs "the A team" designed to infiltrate and disrupt Australia and its security.
He says a former politician was recruited and "sold out" their party, their colleagues and the country to help a foreign power.
Who? We don't know. I have been given a name but have no idea whether it is correct. It is speculation and speculation is rife.
This politician even suggested bringing a family member of the prime minister into the web. Which PM? Which family member? What happened? Was that PM told? We don't know.
There's more. Burgess says an academic attended, along with others, a fully funded conference in another country, and soon after began to provide information about Australia's national security and defence priorities.
And an aspiring politician provided background on his party and who was up and coming as a potential target for agents to cultivate. Again, no names.
Some of this was gullible people talking themselves up. Some was more sinister, but either way this is serious stuff much of which would now be illegal.
Espionage and foreign interference laws were rewritten in 2018. Burgess says several people should be "grateful" they cannot be retrospective.
In other words, a law now working to protect Australia had been broken before it existed!
So what now?
The first thing is names. The names of those involved should be public.
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The prime minister must today speak with Burgess and, unless he has objections on operational grounds, the PM should make a statement under parliamentary privilege outlining who the director general was referring to and what they did.
They can't be charged so there is no threat to due process.
Some will argue it is unfair to judge them publicly. Well, it is unfair to Australia not to do so. And they can still have the opportunity to defend themselves in that notorious court of public opinion.
If Burgess has a strong argument to continue the secrecy, we must be told why.
The intelligence community suggests people on both sides of politics have been approached. Now is not the time for Labor or Liberal to run a protection racket for former members.
It is in the national interest to name these people.
It is also only fair to the many former politicians who have had legitimate and legal dealings with foreign powers.
Arguably, they are all under a cloud until this is exposed to the public scrutiny it deserves.
These spy stories are only part of what Burgess has said.
It is like an excellent novel. But it is real. I recommend every Australian read it for the history it reports and for the warnings it issues.
An example: he says the threat of direct terrorist attack remains, and is described officially as "possible".
But the threat of espionage and foreign interference, which can be just as deadly, is described as "certain".
He quotes two examples where foreign groups were attempting to make Australian-based dissidents "disappear" or face "severe action".
This is Australia! And we have foreign spies attempting to intimidate or even kill local dissidents.
He says "violent extremists" have been monitored advocating sabotage, race war, and attacks on power networks and rail systems. In these cases, the ASIO fear is of lone "actors" trying to match the big talk.
His message is very much a call to arms, a call for Australians to wake up and pay attention.
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Essentially he says Australia is under direct and increasing threat and gives examples of where that threat has been disrupted. But, as he says, ASIO cannot always know everything and head off danger before it happens.
So concerned is Burgess that later this year ASIO will publish a framework for companies to upgrade their security. He says everybody has a workplace safety system, but very few have appropriate security.
And the threat is growing. Burgess says in the past four years a counter foreign interference taskforce has conducted operations to mitigate 120 threats against communities, political systems and classified operations. Successful disruptions have increased 265 per cent.
Burgess does not name the foreign countries involved, but China and Russia are the top of any sensible list.
To be realistic, Australia will not be the highest priority for espionage but experts say to think we were immune would be naïve.
Burgess has now shown we are not immune and the threat is growing.
Like many security agencies around the world, he has attempted to get the right balance here between the need for secrecy and the need to alert the public to a serious threat.
Meanwhile, most Australians would say the traitors he describes, particularly the ex-politician, should be disgraced, humiliated and locked up.
Jail is not an option. Public judgment is. Prime minister, it is up to you.
Neil Mitchell is a 3AW news analyst and hosts the weekly podcast 'Neil Mitchell asks Why?'
