ASIO Director-General of Security Mike Burgess during a press conference following a shooting at Bondi, at Parliament House in Canberra on Sunday 14 December 2025.
Hizb ut-Tahrir Australia has penned an open letter to ASIO director-general Mike Burgess, criticising his assessment of the radical Islamic group, as it vows not to disband.
The organisation claimed Burgess acted as a “propaganda mouthpiece for those seeking to demonise Islam and Muslims” when he called out the group for threatening community cohesion while strategically remaining within the confines of the law in a speech in November.

In a recent statement, Hizb ut-Tahrir Australia criticized a lecture for prioritizing agendas over factual information. “This lecture was never about presenting facts but about advancing agendas,” the group asserted.

ASIO Director-General of Security Mike Burgess during a press conference following a shooting at Bondi, at Parliament House in Canberra on Sunday 14 December 2025.
ASIO Director-General of Security Mike Burgess.(Justin McManus/The Age)

On Monday, a spokesperson commented on the organization’s tactics, suggesting they have created opportunities for violence without explicitly endorsing it. “For a while, they have created a pathway for others to engage in violence, but have been careful to not explicitly call for it themselves,” he noted. “They’ve kept themselves just below that threshold.”

The Australian Parliament is set to discuss a new bill on Monday and Tuesday, facing opposition from the Coalition. If passed, the legislation could impose severe restrictions. “There was no way to avoid being banned if what he described as ‘some of the most draconian laws the West has ever seen’ passed,” he remarked.

In response, Hizb ut-Tahrir Australia announced its intentions to thoroughly examine the final version of the legislation and possibly challenge any unfavorable listings in court. The group made it clear that they do not plan to disband in anticipation of the proposed measures.

He said there was no way to avoid being banned if what he described as “some of the most draconian laws the West has ever seen” passed. 

Hizb ut-Tahrir Australia said it would review the final legislation and may challenge any listing in court, signalling it would not disband ahead of the proposed rules.

“Hizb ut-Tahrir is based on an Islamic political worldview,” lawyer Zaid Hamdan El Madi, who is acting on the group’s behalf, told The Guardian.

“Unless the government is proposing to ban Islamic ideas, it cannot ban the ideas of Hizb ut-Tahrir.”

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