The
poor coordination of Australia’s worldwide network of intelligence
officers and their local headquarters is putting innocent lives at risk
and wasting millions of taxpayers’ dollars, say experts speaking
exclusively to The New Daily.
They also claim that the
fight against terrorism has left the nation dangerously exposed to
organised crime, which costs Australia more than $35 billion a year.
With
70 per cent of Australia’s major crime targets living or having
important links overseas, the money they make through drugs, guns and
cybercrime can then be used to fund terror activities here and abroad.
Vulnerabilities abound
Former
field officers who worked at Australia’s leading security agencies cite
the example of the government’s failure to raise travel alerts despite
being warned of a likely terrorist attack in Mumbai prior to the Taj
Hotel attacks in 2008.
Further, The New Daily understands
that, just prior to the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, a demonstration
by British bomb experts showed that a toothpaste tube could carry enough
explosives to punch a hole in a plane, provoking security alerts from
both Russia and the US.
But the Australian government, despite having the information, took no action.
Terror
experts say information spread by jihadists on how to attack airports
has not been taken seriously by Australian authorities. A submission to a
current Senate Inquiry on Aviation and Airport Security details lapses,
including a lack of bollards which enables direct car and truck access
straight into the passenger check-in area at Melbourne’s Tullamarine
Airport.
Concerns are also widespread at all the country’s major
airports over the continuing abuse of Aviation Security Identification
Cards, which provide access to the entire airport. The cards can be
easily transferred from one person to another.
‘Urgent action required’
Calls
for a major overhaul of the ways law enforcement, criminal and national
security intelligence are coordinated and handed to government are made
in a new report, Optimising Our Criminal Intelligence System Overseas.
The
report is co-written by Dr Phil Kowalick, the head of the Australian
Institute of Professional Intelligence Officers, and Dr David Connery,
the head of the Australian Strategic Policy Institute’s Policing and Law
Enforcement Program.
Dr Kowalick, who served with the Australian Federal Police for 34 years, told The New Daily
the new focus on terrorism meant traditional law enforcement issues
like drugs and firearms had been relegated to second-order priorities.
“There is no doubt jihadi extremists are using crime to fund their activities,” he said.
“Lack
of cooperation between traditional law enforcement and a new wave of
national security operatives is leaving Australia more open.”
A policeman at Mumbai’s main train station, the site of a 2008 terror attack. Photo: GettyDr
Kowalick says the weak coordination of intelligence efforts for
detecting and disrupting major drug importations and money
laundering leaves Australia more vulnerable.
The report urges the
government to give local intelligence gathering a higher priority, to
create two new, high-level officials to better coordinate efforts and
build five new criminal intelligence hubs.
“How much better would
we be served if our criminal intelligence was properly informing the
investigating agencies, freeing them up to do their work, which is
locking up the crooks?” Mr Kowalick said.
Former Director of Security Intelligence within the Defence Department, Professor Clive Williams, told The New Daily that Australian law enforcement officers overseas were not being used properly.
Survivors flee the scene of the Sydney siege.“Australia’s
worldwide network of criminal intelligence officers and support staff
is poorly coordinated to deal with the problem, leading to the waste of
millions of dollars and poor law enforcement outcomes.
“Another
limitation is that criminal intelligence, for a variety of reasons,
often cannot be used to prosecute and convict in an Australian court.”
Roger Henning, head of Homeland Security Asia/Pacific, told The New Daily his company has found that making submissions to government inquiries on security reform was a fruitless process.
“What is missing in the present system, at all levels, is any real capacity to act on human intelligence,” he said.
“The
new generation of intelligence operatives think everything happens on
the internet. Until we dramatically increase human intelligence and
improve the lines of communication so that governments actually react to
the reports, we are really whistling in the wind.” John Stapleton writes on national security for The New Daily. John Stapleton has worked as a journalist at The Sydney Morning Herald and The Australian. His most recent book is Terror in Australia: Workers’ Paradise Lost.
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