{"id":9297,"date":"2013-09-16T05:59:07","date_gmt":"2013-09-15T19:59:07","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/?p=9297"},"modified":"2014-03-31T14:19:26","modified_gmt":"2014-03-31T03:19:26","slug":"what-should-the-abbott-government-do","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/what-should-the-abbott-government-do\/","title":{"rendered":"Homeland security: what should the Abbott Government do?"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"emergency<\/a>The incoming Australian Attorney-General George Brandis\u2019 top priority is the elimination of what he views as a \u2018left-wing control of the human rights debate<\/a>\u2019. And he plans to conduct a national audit of federal statutes that infringe common law rights as a first step to restoring these freedoms, when appropriate. However, Senator Brandis hasn\u2019t said much to date about operational security issues. That\u2019s despite the fact that matters relating to domestic intelligence, counterterrorism, cyber security, emergency management and serious and organised crime fall under the Attorney-General\u2019s portfolio. The Attorney-General has around 60 portfolio responsibilities. About half are directly relevant to homeland security. That\u2019s why I\u2019ve argued<\/a> that creating a Minister for Security and Resilience at Cabinet level would provide unity of command in areas related to counterterrorism, organised crime, cyber security and emergency management.<\/p>\n

My colleague David Connery and I recently suggested that a new minister for security and resilience should have two parliamentary secretaries. Given that we\u2019re likely to see more frequent and intense weather events<\/a>,\u00a0one could assist on emergency management. The other could be a parliamentary secretary for cyber security. This would allow the Attorney-General to focus on the administration of justice and strengthen the traditional role of the Attorney as the commonwealth\u2019s first law officer<\/a> (PDF).<\/p>\n

In the area of disaster resilience, the only mention in the Liberal Party\u2019s policy blueprint <\/i>Real Solut<\/a><\/i>ions<\/i><\/a> is better and faster deployment of search dogs (on page 43). However, I\u2019d argue that when it comes to disaster resilience, it\u2019d be better to focus on disaster mitigation. We\u2019re too focused on the response and recovery side of disaster management. Mitigation should be a key part of Canberra\u2019s micro-economic reform program: research puts the return on such investments at 15%. And it could be much more<\/a>.<\/p>\n

As a lifesaver and volunteer firefighter, Prime Minister Tony Abbott understands the importance of volunteers in emergency response.\u00a0Capacity-building with volunteers provides a great potential approach to building community resilience, but we need to try harder to attract and retain them.<\/p>\n

The Coalition promised during the election campaign that health spending wouldn\u2019t be cut. That\u2019s particularly important in the area of health preparedness for disasters. We pay too little attention to the problems of medical \u2018surge\u2019<\/a>, avoiding emergency department overcrowding, and conducting rigorous no-notice disaster drills in hospitals to test our ability to handle a large number of casualties.<\/p>\n

In the area of counterterrorism, it\u2019s not clear what direction the new government will take; its pre-election policy simply states<\/a> that it\u2019ll deliver improved counterterrorism and domestic security measures in Australia and secure our ports and airports.<\/p>\n

I\u2019d suggest that one area that the new government might focus its efforts on is online radicalisation.\u00a0Young people don\u2019t always have the skills to evaluate online content. The Coalition\u2019s announced it\u2019ll establish a Children\u2019s e-Safety Commissioner<\/a> (PDF) to take a national leadership role in online safety for children.\u00a0The e-Safety Commissioner is well-placed to work with school authorities to consider violent extremism part of the instruction on cyber safety issues.<\/p>\n

We can\u2019t assume that because the terrorism threat has lowered, we don\u2019t need the laws that contributed to getting us to that happier place. Telecommunications interception provides vital support to intelligence and law enforcement. But we\u2019ve got old legislation for old technology. The new government should modernise the legal framework here as a matter of priority. But, as Kristy Bryden\u2019s argued here on The Strategis<\/i>t<\/a>, that should be done with greater transparency than we\u2019ve seen to date.<\/p>\n

Additionally, we need to focus much more on transnational and organised crime as a strategic threat<\/a>.\u00a0More than two-thirds of the organised crime bosses listed as the greatest threats to Australia by the ACC are located overseas<\/a>. The incoming government has promised<\/a> (PDF) to post detectives from China, Indonesia, Malaysia and Lebanon into the ACC, with reciprocal placements of Australian detectives overseas.\u00a0Given that international cooperation is critical in fighting organised crime, this suggestion is sensible. Although, if what\u2019s intended is seconding only state police, that would be too restrictive: it should include ACC representatives as well. The overseas police liaison role now rests with the AFP. As you\u2019d expect, they\u2019re more focused on operational matters, less on strategic intelligence gathering.<\/p>\n

Any ACC overseas role will require cooperation between\u00a0the ACC and AFP. The AFP has mature processes and systems necessary to support overseas deployments. These could be leveraged to support extra people in overseas posts in the area of strategic crime intelligence.<\/p>\n

Anthony Bergin is the deputy director of ASPI. Image courtesy of Flickr user U.S. Army Corps of Engineers<\/a>.
\n<\/i><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The incoming Australian Attorney-General George Brandis\u2019 top priority is the elimination of what he views as a \u2018left-wing control of the human rights debate\u2019. 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