Australian federal politicians and staff in parts of Parliament House have been urged to turn off their phones, laptops, and internet during a visit by Chinese officials, with parliament administrators warning about interruptions to wifi service. The email from the Department of Parliamentary Services, sent on Monday morning, stated that the visit may cause disruptions to building occupants on Monday afternoon and Tuesday morning.
The shadow cybersecurity minister, Claire Chandler, called the warning “incredibly concerning”, saying the parliament advisory raised worries about threats to sensitive data. “It’s incredibly concerning that parliamentarians and their offices are expected to go to extreme lengths like locking down or shutting down devices and disabling wifi just to protect our data in Parliament House during this visit from Zhao Leji,” Chandler said.
Zhao Leji, chair of the National People’s Congress of China, is visiting Parliament House on Monday evening for engagements and dinner with the Senate president, Sue Lines, and the House of Representatives speaker, Milton Dick. He was scheduled to meet the governor general, Sam Mostyn, earlier on Monday, and is expected to meet the prime minister, Anthony Albanese.
The email told staff working in certain parts of the building to use “alternative routes” and recommended they close their doors and blinds “for privacy”. It also advised that within identified areas, internet connected devices including phones, tablets, and laptops should be powered down. Where devices must be used, the email instructed that phones and iPads be updated with the latest software and placed in lockdown mode, and laptops should have wifi and bluetooth switched off.
Chandler noted recent warnings from the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation about Chinese-backed hackers targeting critical infrastructure. Dr Gatra Priyandita, senior analyst with the Australian Strategic Policy Institute, said the warnings from DPS were warranted, citing China’s record of cyber-espionage and the Australian Signals Directorate’s threat report showing China-linked groups increasingly probing devices and networks.
