13 May 2008
New AFP Officers
Delivered During Question Time to the Federal House of Representatives
In February this year, a ceremony was held in Sydney to mark the 30th anniversary of the bombing of the Hilton Hotel in Sydney, an event often described as the first act of terrorism on Australian soil.
The images shocked the nation - a scene of devastation that left three dead and a public in disbelief that it could happen here.
Following the bombing, the former Commissioner of the London Metropolitan Police, Sir Robert Marks, was engaged to report on Australia’s national policing needs.
The result was the formation of the Australian Federal Police in 1979, and an often quoted statement from the Mark Report is worth repeating to the House.
"Those who framed the Constitution can hardly have foreseen the motor vehicle and the aeroplane. Arrangements for the governance of States which were adequate for trade, public order and the social requirements of the nineteenth century are not appropriate for dealing with serious wrongdoing which transcends State jurisdictions and affect the interest of the Commonwealth as a whole; terrorism, narcotics, and organised crime being perhaps the three most obvious examples…… There is today an undoubted need for one federal agency to coordinate the efforts of all police forces against interstate crime and terrorism.
Mr Speaker, on its first day of operation, drug liaison officers were attached to Australian Embassies in Bangkok, Kuala Lumpur, Jakarta, London and Wellington, officers were also attached to Interpol and Scotland Yard. A month later the AFP’s first headquarters opened in Canberra.
Australian Peacekeeping duties in Cyprus became the sole responsibility of the AFP marking the beginning of its International Deployment Group, which now has 385 personnel deployed in 8 countries.
Mr Speaker, over the past few years, against the backdrop of September 11 and the Bali bombings, the AFP has had to adapt.
Like all law enforcement agencies it’s had its share of fierce criticism but it’s fair to say a lot of the AFP’s extraordinary work and success often goes unnoticed and unreported.
After the 2002 Bali bombings the AFP, with Indonesian police, coordinated the Disaster Victim Identification of more than 200 victims. It did the same after the 2005 Tsunami and the Indonesian plane crash in Yogyakarta, where officers had to identify two of their own colleagues.
At the time there was no model for victim identification. Today, the process developed by the AFP, learnt by trial, error and dedication is contributing, with Interpol, to the development of an international benchmark.
Mr Speaker, the AFP has also cemented its reputation in Asia through the operation of the Jakarta Centre for Law Enforcement Operation, known as JC-LEC, which aims to improve counter-terrorism capabilities in the region.
Since 2005 more than 2000 participants from 33 countries have been trained at JC-LEC in intelligence, forensics, leadership and post bomb blast programs.
This year is also the 30th anniversary of the AFP’s world class Bomb Data Centre.
The Bomb Centre has provided early advice in the event of very significant overseas incidents, not least when it identified the explosives used in the London Underground bombing - information which informed key agencies in the United Kingdom.
It has set up laboratories in Indonesia, Thailand and the Philippines for DNA, fingerprint and explosives testing.
The AFP was the first police force in the Asia Pacific to sign an agreement with Europol and now has a liaison officer attached.
It has an International Network comprising 87 officers in 27 countries.
The Network is one of the oldest in the world and provides cooperation and information sharing for all Australian law enforcement agencies.
It also has had major success working with international agencies in breaking paedophile rings.
Last year the AFP worked with Interpol Vienna to crack a major ring including more than 6-thousand addresses, which led to the arrest of 30 offenders Australia-wide.
Recently I attended an Asian anti terrorism conference in Sydney where Dr Rohan Gunaratna, the well known head of the International Centre for Political Violence and Terrorism Research at Singapore’s Technological University, emphasised to me what a major effect the AFP’s support to Indonesia has had on breaking terror cells in the region.
To quote Dr Gunaratna:
Australia’s offshore counter-terrorism policy and strategy has been spearheaded by the AFP. If it was not for Australia’s assistance to South-East Asian countries, particularly Indonesia, the threat of terrorism would have increased considerably since the Bali bombing.
The AFP has built long lasting relationships and friendships in the law enforcement and intelligence communities in South East Asia.
Based on these discussions I’ve been having with people like Dr Gunaratna and others, as well seeing first hand the programs operated by the AFP, I am convinced the AFP has developed into one of the very best police forces in the world.
That’s why the Government is delivering on our election commitment to boost the AFP’s numbers by 500 to focus on the AFP’s domestic investigations, including drug trafficking, organised crime, fraud and money laundering.
500 new officers will build on the excellent work being done by these dedicated police professionals.
I trust I speak on behalf of all members of this House in expressing our ongoing appreciation of their work and our ongoing commitment to ensuring the professionalism of the AFP is maintained.
ENDS