Former intelligence chief Duncan Lewis warned Australians not to "inflate" the threat of foreign interference and has called on the federal government to boost the size of Australia's diplomatic corps in the face of intensifying strategic competition.
Mr Lewis, who also served as head of the Defence Department and as National Security Adviser, has been appointed as a professor at the National Security College, an institution which he played an instrumental role in establishing more than a decade ago.
As head of the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation (ASIO) from 2014 to 2019, Mr Lewis repeatedly made public warnings that Australia was facing an increased threat from foreign interference ahead of the Coalition passing a suite of new anti-espionage and national security laws.
He told the ABC there had been an increase in foreign interference within Australia in recent years and the warnings he delivered were necessary.
But Mr Lewis also said it was vital not to exaggerate the threat.
"There has been an over-egging of some of the claims [of foreign interference]" he said.
"I'm very proud to say that as ASIO director I was able to assist government in bringing to the Australian community's consciousness the issue of foreign interference."
Mr Lewis declined to give specific examples of what he saw as overheated rhetoric or accusations of foreign interference, saying that would be inappropriate.
But he said it was unsurprising that foreign interference had grown because globalisation and rapid technological advances made it much easier for governments to engage in it.
"We have always seen an uptick in foreign interference but it's always been there, it's not new — it's just happening to a greater degree," he said.
Mr Lewis also backed calls from departing DFAT secretary Frances Adamson for the government to consider ramping up spending on foreign aid and international lending.
Last month, Ms Adamson subtly pressed the Government to consider ramping up spending on development assistance, saying "influence in our region will be shaped by who contributes to regional recovery [from COVID-19] and on what basis.
Mr Lewis echoed that call and said Australia's diplomatic resources were "very much on the light side" when compared to those of similarly sized countries.
"Our diplomatic service in my view is too small, and it needs to be expanded so we have more representation in more places with greater capacity than what we've had in the past," he said.
He also said that boosting the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade would allow Australia to make better decisions about where it should focus foreign aid in an increasingly contested environment.
