A proposed super-portfolio combining border security, the federal police and domestic spy agency ASIO carries serious risks, a security expert has warned.

Federal Cabinet is today expected to consider the new ministry, which is tipped to be headed by Immigration Minister Peter Dutton.

But John Blaxland from the Australian National University warned against tampering with a system that was "arguably the envy of the world".

"Altering that may generate problems that are hard to foresee, but which could actually significantly deteriorate our ability to respond appropriately," Professor Blaxland said.

"I have yet to see any compelling evidence that what we have is not working, or that there is a compellingly better option out there.

"Let's just hasten slowly on this idea."

Professor Blaxland is head of the ANU's Strategic and Defence Studies Centre and has worked in Army intelligence.

He said the proposed structure could concentrate power "in a way that is unprecedented in the Australian context"

read more:

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-07-18/creating-security-portfolio-carrie...

 

A new federal super-ministry of Home Affairs will be set up including the Australian Federal Police, Australian Security Intelligence Organisation, and the Australian Border Force.

Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull has announced it will be headed by the current Immigration Minister Peter Dutton.

It is a dramatic reorganisation of the ministry, stripping ASIO from the Attorney-General.

Mr Turnbull has said it is the most "significant reform of Australia's national intelligence and domestic security arrangements and their oversight in more than 40 years".

There will be an office of national intelligence that will play a co-ordination role.

Mr Turnbull said all of Australia's closest allies have similar offices.

Cyber security will be beefed up with a new centre that operates around the clock.

The idea has been controversial because it gives so much power to one minister, but Mr Turnbull defended the move saying: "We can't take an 'if it ain't broke don't fix it approach'."

read more:

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-07-18/malcolm-turnbull-announces-new-fed...

 

Do we need to start living in fear of the police?

Not in Australia, surely?

We may continue to trust the police to come to our aid to help in times of danger, but is this trust changing to that of a state of fear?

The Australian Government has opened the barrack gates for Australian soldiers to take action against terrorists in our midst.

So what happens when we call the police because of a disturbance near our house, but this crosses paths with someone else calling in the army? Would we be safe?

Consider the recent report on Australia’s special forces soldiers:

More than anything, what these new revelations demonstrate is that somewhere along the way our military, and our special forces in particular,simply lost the ability to effectively counter an insurgency. Once upon a time, “the best of the best” were trained to operate like “phantoms” — treading lightly and prudently alongside their local partners. Today, however, the legacy they will leave behind in the minds of Afghans will be a brutal one. The civilian cost of the Special Operations Task Group’s operations in Afghanistan is now apparent for all to see.

The Turnbull Govt has announced changes that will give police more power to call in troops during terror attacks in Australia. @telesterpic.twitter.com/Wrvc8PCBv5

— 7 News Melbourne (@7NewsMelbourne) July 17, 2017

Changes to terror laws announced giving ADF power in civilian situations (source: @7NewsMelbourne).

 

The disturbance over our back fence may be in the outside shed of a neighbour’s house, in the playroom of a 14-year-old chatting about a video game on the internet, picked up by the ADF’s new cyber arm, misunderstood and acted on like a military operation.

read more:

https://independentaustralia.net/politics/politics-display/the-death-of-...

From Sean Kelly at the monthly:

 

Whenever a government proposes concentrating power in the hands of a single individual, a predictable objection is always raised: “Yes, perhaps this might work in the immediate future, but what if one day there is somebody truly awful in this position? That’s what we have to worry about.”

Today, there was no need for hypotheticals. Malcolm Turnbull has created a new super department, combining Border Force, ASIO, the Australian Federal Police, the Australian Criminal Intelligence Commission, the Australian Transaction Reports and Analysis Centre, and the Office of Transport Security. Will it be run by somebody competent, like Simon Birmingham? Or somebody reasonable, like Julie Bishop?

No. It will be headed up by somebody truly awful: Peter Dutton.

Longtime readers will know that I hold Dutton in deep contempt, so you might not wish to trust my entrenched opinion. Rely, then, on the government minister who back in March asked Sky’s Samantha Maiden if she could imagine how quickly public support for the spy agencies would collapse if you put “a fascist like Peter Dutton in charge of the portfolio”.

But perhaps that government minister was simply in a bad mood. Perhaps I, too, am mistaken in my personal opinion. I will leave you to your own conclusions, based on the following catalogue of Dutton’s work over the past few years. I’ve gone in roughly reverse-chronological order.

Last month, Dutton defended his new language test for would-be citizens, saying that in its objections Labor was confusing two different types of tests. A world-leading languages expert said, in fact, both tests required the same level of English.  

In May this year, after Yassmin Abdel-Magied had unreservedly apologised for a controversial tweet about Anzac Day, Dutton applauded the ABC for axing her TV show, and said, “One down, many to go.”

Also in May, after Fairfax journalists went on strike to protest sackings, Dutton said productivity at Fairfax had gone up during the strike, and urged people not to read Fairfax papers.

In April, seeking to justify his citizenship changes, Dutton said you’d expect migrants to send their kids to school. When it was pointed out to him that this was already required by law, he had no answer. He also said domestic violence offenders should not be let into the country, but was unable to explain how existing police checks would not pick up on this.

Also in April, Dutton agreed with radio host Ray Hadley that Newspolls were a fair measure on which to judge Turnbull’s performance, and that at some point that would affect his leadership.

In December last year, Dutton told Hadley that the story of a school that had not sung Christmas carols at its year-end assembly made his “blood boil”. Attacking political correctness, he said, “We need to rise up against it.”

read more:

https://www.themonthly.com.au/today/sean-kelly/2017/18/2017/1500359312/s...

 

See toon at top...

We've all seen enough of Turnbull not to expect a tough guy. We want the guy who knows stuff, who is across his brief. Instead, we got Turnbul as played by Sly Stallone...

Sean Kelly

Read more at the Saturday Paper...

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See also:  the super ministry of duttonius...