National Security Australia Conference

Bayside Auditorium
Sydney Convention & Exhibition Centre

Thursday 6 March 2008, 9.10am

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Acknowledgements

Introduction

Ladies and Gentlemen I begin by stating the obvious, but it needs to be said:
The new Government is serious about National Security and committed to Australia’s ongoing safety and security on this part of the planet.

We understand we share this planet with some people who do not agree with our values and who do not want to encourage or protect our specific interests.

But it is also worth understanding that there are a great many people in the world who cherish peace, safety and security for themselves, their families, their countrymen and for the world at large.

Our common interest must be emphasised at the same time as we are vigilant against those who do not share these values.

You will already be aware the Government has committed to a review into the possibility of establishing a Department of Homeland Security in Australia.

This review was announced by the Prime Minister just over a week ago and will be delivered to Government on 30 June.

The review will guide our approach to the border protection aspect of National Security – just one aspect of what national security is.

Indeed it is worth quickly asking - what is National Security?

Is it the so called ‘war on terror’?

I personally don’t find that metaphor at all helpful.

The concept of the ‘enemy’ may indeed confuse us about the threats we face.

Is the climate our enemy?

Is drought our enemy?

When we look at the very broad context of national security which includes issues like food security, climate change, bio security, economic prosperity, disease and poverty we can be overwhelmed.

We face so many ‘enemies’ on so many ‘war’ fronts the metaphor becomes meaningless.

It is important in the context of what we are discussing today for me to draw the theme of my speech back to the nuts and bolts of border security and good national policing.

I am not going to go into the broader themes I have just mentioned in much detail, but I do need to acknowledge the context.

You will be aware that during the election campaign the now Prime Minster committed the Government to the development of a new White Paper which will be the first since the September 11 attacks that so markedly reshaped the Australia’s  Defence's priorities.

These of course are matters for the Defence Minister and the Prime Minister.

You will be watching those portfolios closely throughout this year and naturally you won’t expect me to have any significant policy announcements on that front here today.

I am certainly not going to pre-empt the Defence Minister, I value my life too much for that.

I do however comment that the Government’s commitment to withdrawing combat troops from Iraq is an example of how the broad national security policy comes into play.
It serves our national interests to complete that withdrawal in the measured way the Prime Minister has foreshadowed.

The Attorney General with responsibility for overall counter terrorism policy in the Government will also be continuing to develop policy that you will be watching with some interest.

But - this is not a speech about what I cannot say or will not say - this is my opportunity to discuss with you my own priorities and responsibilities about border protection from the point of view of Minister for Home Affairs.

A portfolio that includes responsibility for policies to combat money laundering, responsibility for criminal law policy and indigenous justice, the administration of Australia’s Territories, the smooth running of the Crime Commission, the day to day work of the Customs Service and the day to day work of the Australian Federal Police.

Just as the Government is clearly very serious about the broader themes of national security in terms of the economy, climate change, agricultural matters and health, I as Minister for Home Affairs am also very serious about ensuring we have a top quality and effective national policing response and border protection capacity.

Having had many years in State Government - often engaged in robust policy discussion about the extent of powers and need for safeguards for effective policing - I am not unaware of the tensions between freedoms and law enforcement.

I have a long history of attempting to balance these things, sometimes with more success than other times.

That is not to say that I am on the side of personal freedom at all costs.

In fact, such a stance is reckless, and anyone who was Minister for prisons in NSW, as I was for eight years, must know it is untenable.

How can we measure the balance I am talking about?

It requires work - Hard work and vigilance.

We need to keep looking at what we are doing to see if we are getting it right.

We may indeed never really know.

However, if we pay attention to the consequences of what we do and look at proper safeguards and place a premium on the egalitarian values of our civil society then we will know our limits – for example we take the view that extraordinary rendition is not one of our standard law enforcement options– if we constantly monitor ourselves and are subject to continuous review then we may well just be OK.

It is my belief that we must ensure that when we give strong powers to law enforcement agencies we do all we can to make sure the agencies are accountable and we balance the powers with measures to protect the basic humanity of the accused being dealt with. 

Our judicial system is a clear example of one place to examine when powers may not have been exercised properly.

I won’t get into a commentary on any recent judgments many of you will be aware of, but it is important to remember a judge is a participant in a broader exercise of powers being applied by a law enforcement or investigatory agency and then being reviewed by an independent tribunal of fact.

I would like to discuss briefly the relationships we need to maintain to have effective national security.

Our broad National Security needs mean we must have well organised relationships at three strategic levels – internationally, regionally, and nationally.

International Engagement

At the international level, well organised and ongoing engagement improves our investment opportunities overseas and contributes to our global reputation as a corruption proof trading partner.

It also helps support better governance and legal systems.

This is why we’re a signatory to the United Nations Convention against Corruption and the United Nations Convention against Transnational Organised Crime.

We are also a signatory to the OECD Convention on Combating Bribery of Foreign Public Officials in International Business Transactions.

Australia’s network of formal treaty arrangements with other jurisdictions in crime cooperation must be wide-ranging and effective.

Better engagement with our regional partners will develop and implement stronger measures for international cooperation against crime, including terrorism.

The Attorney-General’s Department is currently working with a number of countries in South East Asia to implement international counter terrorism conventions, and strengthen frameworks for extradition and mutual assistance.

Australian Federal Police

Since December last year, I have been pleased to take on the role of Minister for the Australian Federal Police.

In their own way the AFP are making that task of balancing freedoms I mentioned earlier more manageable than I had initially envisaged.

This is a force of men and women who are dedicated to protecting our national interests.

The AFP has an international network of 87 officers in
34 cities in 28 countries.

And there are 22 people deployed in counter terrorism specific roles.

The international network is focussed on law enforcement, cooperation and criminal intelligence exchange.

It works to combat transnational crime at its source and to improve offshore disruption activities.

Stopping the crime over there - often means not having to clean up a mess here.

As part of our role to maintain and invest in protecting the nation, we also make sure the AFP has an effective operational capacity.

Our 1200 personnel in the International Deployment Group by June this year will include a 200 strong Operational Resources Group to respond quickly to new international situations, and stabilisation operations that require tactical responses.

This Group was used last month, in response to a request for assistance from the Government of East Timor after the assassination attempts on the President and Prime Minister.

Within 24 hours of receiving the request, the AFP had deployed 65 members of the Operational Response Group and 5 forensic specialists into Timor.

Our ongoing capacity for proactive and reactive involvement in the national security environment increases the overall safety of all Australians.

Australian Customs Service

Our Customs officials also play a significant international role in protecting us all.

They play a proactive role offshore combined with their operations at our borders.

Through Border Protection Command – a joint Customs/Defence command – we protect Australia’s national interests against security threats in the offshore maritime domain.

Border Protection Command and Customs assets are used to prevent illegal fishing in our economic exclusion zone, to protect offshore installations and to detect and intervene in illegal immigration.

Last week I was in Jakarta discussing with our Customs representatives and the Indonesian Minister for Fisheries just how effective the work has been in that country in an effort to decrease illegal fishing - not just in our waters by Indonesians - but in Indonesian waters by others.

This sort of cooperation is a key to our national security.

By assisting the Indonesians to protect their interests in fishing stocks we are protecting our own.

Customs strong working relationships with other overseas border agencies enables the sharing of information and joint action to prevent the movement of suspicious or illegal cargo, or persons of interest.

It also helps to protect us from the threat of terrorism, the illegal importation of firearms and other weapons, and illicit drugs.

Maintaining eight permanent overseas posts, Customs also contributes to security and capacity building missions in the Pacific.

For example, last year, Customs provided illicit drug and explosive chemical precursor training to various agencies in Jakarta.

Through their international networks and capacity building activities, both Customs and the AFP are directly involved in building regional law enforcement capacity.

Not only does this help to improve investigations into drug related crime and other transnational crimes such as people trafficking, and people smuggling - Its overall impact is to build friendships and partnerships that can only assist our security outcomes.

Our capacity to deal with these things has manifestly improved  - illegal foreign fishing for example reached a peak two or three years ago and it has been since declining– this decline is a result of ongoing work by our agencies in cooperation with their international partners, notably the Indonesians.

Regional Engagement

I probably cannot say this enough - Well organised relationships at the regional level are vital in helping to provide us with security and stability on the home front.

You may know of some of our regional activities, such as the Transnational Crime Network, established by the AFP.

It helps Pacific Island countries develop their capacities to disrupt and dismantle transnational organised crime – which can have a direct impact on our exposure to those crimes.

There are also 235 AFP members in the Regional Assistance Mission to the Solomon Islands, providing capacity building and mentoring to the Solomon’s police force.

Money Laundering

Strong regional engagement is also needed to combat money laundering and terrorist financing.

This is especially so in the Pacific, where weak institutions and porous borders make states vulnerable to organised crime.

The Australian Government’s Anti-Money Laundering Assistance Team is playing a key role in dealing with this challenge by providing technical assistance to Pacific
countries to establish anti-money laundering and counter-financing of terrorism systems.

We have seen some positive results.

The Solomon Islands Financial Intelligence Unit, which was established with the help of the Anti-Money Laundering Assistance Team, has received more than 50 suspicious transaction reports.

And a number of tham have been passed on to police for further investigation.

That work is helping with regional stability by building local systems that can detect the earnings from corruption.
It also has direct benefits for our security, by improving our region’s capacity to confront transnational crime and terrorism.

The identification of money launderers helps protect the integrity of our financial institutions and prevents them and other businesses from being undermined.

Money launderers are quite often people who have committed serious predicate offences including fraud, corruption, and drug trafficking – tracking the profits of crime is often the best way to catch them.

The Australian Government will be introducing our own reforms to Australia’s anti-money laundering and counter terrorism financing regime this year.

It will improve and continue the implementation of the Financial Action Task Force international standards.

Illicit Drug Production and Trafficking

Illicit drug production and the trafficking of precursor chemicals that are used in illicit drug manufacture are a constant threat to our domestic security.

We’ve built successful controls in Australia that have severely limited the ability of drug cooks to obtain precursor chemicals through the retail pharmacy sector.

However, criminals are looking for other sources of either the raw materials or the finished product.

Asia is a primary source for both.

The ability of our regional neighbours to respond effectively to this threat within their own countries directly impacts on our ability to manage the threat here at home.

There are two current initiatives seeking to address this challenge in Asia and the Pacific:

Both of these initiatives seek to work cooperatively with countries in the Asia-Pacific to

National Engagement

At the national level strong relationships are also needed to protect us from various threats.

One of my goals is to achieve – as far as practicable – nationally consistent Australian criminal laws.

I will work with my state and territory colleagues to achieve better national consistency for instance in serious drug offences. Including model standards relating to the quantities involved in drug trafficking and possession offences.

 Justice Being Done

Another priority of the Government involves improvements to the sentencing regimes that apply nationally.

Obviously it’s one of the most crucial and public aspects of the criminal justice system.

Community well being and security is assisted by good sentencing practice and outcomes.

A more coherent and comprehensive set of principles developed to deal with federal offenders will assist in bringing a greater level of consistency in application across the States and Territories.

As you will understand it is a fundamental principle of the criminal law that cases should be treated in a like, or consistent, manner.

To reach this outcome I am examining the potential for a Commonwealth Sentencing and Offender Management Act.

It would draw on an important Australian Law Reform Commission report from 2006 Same Crime, Same Time, as of course it will involve further consultation with States and Territories, interested groups and individuals.

An effective criminal justice system must also acknowledge and support victims.

The expansion of Commonwealth criminal law means that there are now a lot more victims who can be identified as victims of federal crimes – for example in cases of terrorism, people trafficking and child sex related crimes.

The needs of these victims must be recognised.

During this year, I will bring forward reform to address the gap for victims of federal offences.

It will include:

The Government will also consult widely to ensure that practice benchmarks for victims policy and programs are identified and implemented across the nation.

 Protecting Our People

Securing Australia is required on so many levels that critics may dismiss initiatives that just provide a sense of security but not provide real security.

Perception is important but it’s not even half the story. If people feel safe that is great but they will not be safe because they’ve got a fridge magnet.

Real effective safety and security is a continuing challenge and I’d like to finish by mentioning an important area where the Australian Government is determined to make improvements – that is in Indigenous Australia.

We must increase the safety and security of first Australians because it is good for all Australians.
This means amongst many other things, reducing levels of child abuse and neglect, interpersonal violence and crime, re-offending and over-representation in the justice system.

The Northern Territory Emergency Response has been aimed at addressing severe challenges in very poor communities, an evidence-based review of that response initiated by the previous government is due to commence mid-year and the findings from this will be used to guide future Government action.

It is unlikely that improvements to these terrible problems in some parts of indigenous Australia will be achieved solely through the punitive aspects of the justice system.

To ensure justice is done, the rights of victims and offenders will need to be protected, and the prevention of crime will be an essential element in any long term solutions.

This means taking a broad, balanced approach – informed by Indigenous voices – that involves both justice sector and prevention approaches.

With that in mind, I’m interested in progressing, through the Standing Committee of Attorneys-General, the development of a national strategic framework for Indigenous law and justice.

That would bring all jurisdictions together to clarify responsibilities, and agree on priorities.

And it would build upon the momentum generated by the apology to the Stolen Generations.

Conclusion

In conclusion the Australian Government recognises security as a real requirement on a number of levels for our overall well-being.

I trust all of you will work to remind us in Government how we can tackle these problems and continue to create a layered approach to security from the safe home for the young child in the Aboriginal community to the vital economy where transactions are secure and business can prosper.

Thank you – again I wish you all the best for this year’s conference.

ENDS (approx 3100 words)