This includes those tempted by the lure of donations and post-political careers, and have taken tasty pay cheques from companies owned by figures linked closely to the Chinese state for seemingly piddly tasks.

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Indeed, there were so many suspects that many journalists didn’t know who to start calling when trying to get an ex-politician to identify themselves as the unnamed traitor Joe Hockey and Peter Dutton seemingly wanted outed.

Burgess’ unnamed politician isn’t a shocking aberration needing to be named and shamed. It is merely a historical case study to illustrate just how close the MSS has at times got to reshaping parts of our democracy thanks to the greed, ego, stupidity or naivety of a small but still troubling number of ex-political figures.

Alex Turnbull, the son of former PM Malcolm, made this point perfectly (although perhaps without realising it) when he proffered that he may have been targeted by this unnamed politician’s plotting. Sorry Alex. It wasn’t you.

But the fact for a few days, many thought it could have been (Turnbull claimed he was approached by possible Chinese spies), highlights the way in which agents of the MSS and its sister entity, the United Front Work Department, work. They have previously entrenched themselves in pockets of Australian society and, in the case of the latter, acted brazenly.

The number of Labor and Coalition figures who interacted with accused UFWD agent of influence and prolific political donor Huang Xiangmo is breathtaking.

Our system has toughened up since Huang was expelled from Australia. Previous public debate, media exposés, ASIO’s work, and the Turnbull government’s decision to introduce new foreign interference and espionage laws in 2018 have all played a part.

But the MSS hasn’t given up. It’s grown exponentially, getting more tech and surveillance savvy, adapting to ASIO’s every move, confident that self-interest always leaves cracks in any political system.

It’s why we need to keep debating and talking about Beijing and the MSS, while also pointing out all the problems facing our closest security ally, the US.

We also need to keep asking if our security system is fit for purpose.

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While Burgess is right to say that prosecutions of foreign interference plotters and spies are not the only measure of success, the fact there has only been one conviction since 2018 suggests either the federal police or Commonwealth Director of Public Prosecutions needs help.

Before the 2018 legal changes, some of the conduct the average Australian would have considered treasonous wasn’t actually illegal. That only changed because politicians, the media and others were prepared to carefully call out Beijing when the evidence permitted it, paving the way for new laws.

Now that Beijing’s spying apparatus is challenging the CIA in terms of scale, scope and power, and given our own system appears to sometimes struggle to hold wrongdoers to account, the debate must continue.