A globally prohibited radical Islamic organization has launched a formal accusation against Australia’s top intelligence official, alleging he has engaged in ‘propaganda pandering’ as the government advances sweeping reforms targeting hate groups. Hizb ut-Tahrir—already banned across the UK, Europe, and multiple Middle Eastern and Asian nations—faces potential proscription in Australia following recent national security developments.
In a sharply worded letter addressed to ASIO Director-General Mike Burgess, the organization criticized his public statements during a recent Lowy Institute lecture where he compared Hizb ut-Tahrir’s rhetoric and strategies to those of the recently disbanded neo-Nazi group Nationalist Socialist Network (NSN). The letter asserts that Burgess ‘eviscerated any claim to impartiality’ by drawing such parallels and accused him of deliberately muddying complex public conversations.
The group specifically challenged Burgess’s characterization of their criticism of Israel as disguised anti-Semitism, arguing this conflation discredits legitimate pro-Palestinian advocacy. ‘This argument cannot be sustained unless you are suggesting all pro-Palestinian activism equates to anti-Semitism,’ the letter stated.
Hizb ut-Tahrir also defended its lawful operations, rejecting suggestions that operating within legal boundaries indicates nefarious intent. ‘Staying within the law is not circumventing the law, it is the law,’ the organization emphasized, adding that such implications could potentially criminalize any law-abiding citizen.
The controversy emerges as the Australian government, prompted by the recent Bondi Beach terror attack, moves to implement reforms that would streamline the process of designating organizations as prohibited hate groups. Under the proposed measures, membership in or support of banned groups would carry severe penalties, including potential 15-year prison sentences.
Despite its global reputation, Hizb ut-Tahrir’s Australian spokesperson Wassim Doureihi recently characterized the organization as ‘neither hateful nor violent’ in media interviews, denying any intentions to establish a caliphate in Australia through force.