Asio boss says spy agency will dump terms 'rightwing extremism' and 'Islamic extremism'

Mike Burgess says labels are no longer fit for purpose' as he reveals Asio removed a nest of spies' from Australia in 2020

Australian spy agency Asio is overhauling the language it uses to talk about terrorism, dumping terms like rightwing extremism and Islamic extremism, arguing such labels are no longer fit for purpose".

Mike Burgess, the director general of security, announced the changes as he revealed the average age of ideological extremists" investigated by Asio was 25 and they were overwhelmingly male. He said a terrorist attack by such individuals in Australia remains plausible".