Skip to main content

Advertisement

Advertisement

Australia centralises security agencies in shake-up

SYDNEY — Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull said yesterday Australia’s domestic security bodies, including the police and the national spy agency, will be centralised under a new single ministry as Canberra tackles the rising threat of “lone wolf” attacks.

SYDNEY — Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull said yesterday Australia’s domestic security bodies, including the police and the national spy agency, will be centralised under a new single ministry as Canberra tackles the rising threat of “lone wolf” attacks.

Oversight of the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation and the police force were the responsibility of three government officials. They will now be handled by Immigration and Border Protection Minister Peter Dutton under the new Home Affairs Ministry, Mr Turnbull said, citing a model similar to that used by the British Home Office.

Mr Turnbull said the centralised model would ensure greater coordination between Australia’s security agencies. “This is driven by operational logic. Our security environment is being shaped by changes in our region and beyond,” he told reporters in Canberra.

“It is being shaped by the very real threat of homegrown terrorism that is increased with the spread of global Islamist terrorism.”

Mr Turnbull said the United Kingdom’s Home Office, rather than the United States Department of Homeland Security, provided the template for the ministry, which would be small enough to be nimble and would be consistent with arrangements made by other “Five Eyes” intelligence partners including New Zealand and Canada.

The new ministry will need legislative changes to be implemented, he added.

The national security overhaul — Australia’s biggest security shake-up in more than 40 years — came as the country, a staunch ally of the US, reshapes its counter-terrorism response after a series of lone-wolf attacks and heightened fear of attacks by homegrown militants returning from fighting in the Middle East.

The shake-up came a day after Mr Turnbull said Australia’s military would be more readily deployed to respond to “terrorist incidents” at home.

Under those proposed law changes, state and territory governments would be able to call for military help at any time after a “terror incident” has been declared.

Previously, the military could only be called upon once police concluded they could no longer deal with an incident.

Canberra raised the terror threat alert level in September 2014 and introduced new national security laws amid concerns of attacks by individuals inspired by organisations such as the Islamic State (IS).

Counter-terrorism police have also made a string of arrests since late 2014 across the nation and say they have prevented 12 terror attacks on home soil in the past few years.

But several attacks have taken place, including a cafe siege in 2014 where two hostages were killed and the murder of a Sydney police employee in 2015 by a 15-year-old boy.

A coronial inquiry found in May that the police failed to respond quickly enough to end the cafe siege, which has been described as Australia’s deadliest incident inspired by IS extremists. The gunman, who was killed by the police, had no direct ties to the militant group. AGENCIES

Read more of the latest in

Advertisement

Advertisement

Stay in the know. Anytime. Anywhere.

Subscribe to get daily news updates, insights and must reads delivered straight to your inbox.

By clicking subscribe, I agree for my personal data to be used to send me TODAY newsletters, promotional offers and for research and analysis.