This week, ASIO’s Mike Burgess announced in his annual report to Parliament that several years ago they had uncovered and disrupted a spy network. He further divulged that a former parliamentarian had sold out their country.

Leaving aside the question of why Burgess felt compelled to reveal this factoid while keeping the name of the parliamentarian to himself, a bigger question remains… Is Australia’s sovereignty still intact? Was it ever? Have we been betrayed irredeemably?

I’ve recently finished reading a ripping spy novel which I picked up as some light relief from other genres that have been occupying me lately.