A woman indicated a not guilty plea to a charge of foreign interference in the ACT Magistrates Court. Photo: Michelle Kroll.
The name of the woman alleged to have spied on a Buddhist group for the Chinese Government will continue to have her name suppressed after her lawyers raised the risks that could come from publishing it.
The woman has remained in custody for about a month after she was charged with an offence of reckless foreign interference and refused bail.
Afterwards, the media obtained documents that revealed the allegations against her, such as how she was alleged to have covertly and deceptively collected information on the international Buddhist group Guan Yin Citta Dharma Door on behalf of the Chinese Government between 2022 and 2025.
The woman had two barristers in the ACT Magistrates Court on Monday (1 September), Anthony Williamson SC and James Maher, and the court heard she would indicate a not guilty plea to her charge.
The prosecutor stated that it was a significant investigation, which involved 200 terabytes of data that needed to be translated from Mandarin, and requested a lengthy adjournment in the matter.
Meanwhile, Mr Williamson applied for a non-publication order over his client’s name, saying the case had attracted very intense media interest in its short lifespan.
He argued there was a risk his client would be prejudiced at a future jury trial if her name were to be published.
He said the last time an ACT case had attracted such local and national media interest was the matter of Parliament House rape-accused Bruce Lehrmann, “and we know how that ended, in a mistrial”.
Mr Lehrmann denied the allegations against him and the charge against him was discontinued after his ACT Supreme Court trial ended in a mistrial.
Mr Williamson supplied a sample of media reports to the court about his client’s case and said that while he would not go so far as to say the reporting had been hysterical, some comments in them were unhelpful.
These comments had the propensity “to whip up an atmosphere of fear and hysteria”, he argued.
The prosecutor opposed the suppression order over the woman’s name, as did barrister Andrew Schofield, who appeared on behalf of Nationwide News (News Corp).
Chief Magistrate Lorraine Walker said it was a matter that, by its nature, would pique curiosity.
She ultimately thought there was a real likelihood that the woman would be prejudiced if her name were published and continued the suppression order until further order of the court.
The reasons for her decision were also legally suppressed.
Solicitor Justin Davidson, appearing for the Australian Federal Police (AFP), also applied to suppress the identities of 10 members of the AFP’s espionage and foreign interference team for 15 years on the grounds of national security.
As part of his application, an AFP special forces commander told the court the threat posed by espionage and foreign interference was significant and, in his view, “real, pervasive and enduring and unlikely to abate in the foreseeable future”.
The commander also stated that the members risked becoming targets if sensitive information about them were disclosed.
Chief Magistrate Walker granted the suppression of the identities of these 10 AFP members.
The matter will return to court on 10 November. The woman remains in custody.
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