“Put simply, most of our work now and into the future will be aimed at deterring, disrupting, and responding to … active threats, whether overt or concealed. This indicates that we are defending.”

Krissy Barrett farewells former AFP commissioner Reece Kershaw during a ceremony in Canberra on Friday. Source: AAP / Mick Tsikas

Barrett has a clear warning to chaos agents seeking to disrupt Australian democracy.

“Under my leadership, the AFP will maintain a sharp focus on interrupting crimes that affect our sovereignty, our democracy, our social unity, our financial systems, and our future prosperity.”

‘Overlap’ between states and organised crime

“We are observing the direction and payment [for attacks] being shifted to organized crime networks to utilize the systems and networks they already have in place in this country.”

Iran’s ambassador to Australia was expelled in August, and on Tuesday, the government announced it would revise terrorism laws to permit the designation of foreign state entities as “state sponsors of terrorism” in direct response to the IRGC’s attacks.

Wars in Gaza, Ukraine causing uptick in violence

Burgess mentioned the “normalization of violent protest and intimidating behavior” due to the two-year war in Gaza had reduced the threshold for “provocative and potentially violent acts” towards Jewish Australians.

Krissy Barrett and Prime Minister Anthony Albanese at a press conference at Parliament House in Canberra in August. Source: AAP / Mick Tsikas

Barrett said such events have led to a rise in politically motivated violence — with threats against politicians doubling.

Australia’s antisemitism and Islamophobia envoys have reported a five-fold increase in discrimination and violence against Jewish and Muslim communities respectively since the 2023 attack on Israel.

“And I think we’ve all seen that playing out literally on our streets.”

‘Confident’ AFP equipped to tackle youth radicalisation