Julian Leeser (Berowra, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I move:

That this House:

(1) recognises the critical work of the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation (ASIO) in safeguarding Australia's security and national interests;

(2) notes that ASIO Director-General Mike Burgess recently observed that 'Australia's threat environment is complex, challenging and changing';

(3) commends the Government for providing $1.3 billion over ten years in the 2021-22 Budget to help further improve ASIO's capabilities; and

(4) thanks the men and women who work in ASIO and our other national security agencies for their dedication to keeping Australians safe from a range of threats and to protecting our national sovereignty.

Many Australians don't appreciate what ASIO does to protect our freedom and our democracy by keeping terrorism, foreign interference and espionage at bay. That's because much of its important work, rightly, is invisible to the community. ASIO protects Australians from religiously motivated and ideologically motivated violence. It does this by collecting intelligence, analysing and investigating terrorism threats, and providing advice to and working with partners to strengthen public safety and to intervene to disrupt attacks.

Right now, ASIO is aware of multiple threats to Australia and several extremists who want to harm Australians. Australia's terrorism threat level remains at 'probable'. The changing nature of terrorism and violent extremism presents challenges for the early identification and detection of threats by ASIO. The threat of religiously motivated extremism from Sunni violent extremist groups persists, with the violent narrative espoused by terrorists groups such as ISIL and al-Qaeda continuing to inspire attacks here and overseas. However, people motivated by other forms of violent extremism, including ideologically motivated extremism and, specifically, nationalist or racist violent extremism, are also increasingly present in Australia. This now accounts for around 50 per cent of ASIO's current terrorism case load.

Investigations into ideological extremists have occurred in all Australian states and territories. The Director-General of Security, Mike Burgess, has said that this unprecedented shift in the national security threat to ideologically motivated extremism is being fuelled by disinformation surrounding the COVID-19 pandemic and other global events. He said:

In suburbs around Australia, small cells regularly meet to salute Nazi flags, inspect weapons, train in combat and share their hateful ideology.

For me, one of the most concerning aspects of their investigations is the growing number of young people, in particular young men, who are being radicalised by these ideologies. ASIO has identified people under the age of 18 involved in violent extremism, and has warned that minors had not only conducted terrorist attacks but had held leadership positions in terrorist organisations. In its annual report released last week, ASIO said:

Violent extremist narratives … particularly appeal to teenagers, and may resonate with some minors' feelings of alienation, unease about the future and mistrust of adults.

This should be of concern to all of us. In his 2020-21 annual threat assessment report, the Director-General of Security said:

The extremists are security conscious and adapt their security posture to avoid attention. In their online forums and chat rooms, they show that they're savvy when it comes to operating at the limits of what is legal and discuss ways to 'beat the system' in what they say and do.

ASIO anticipates that the threat from this form of extremism will not diminish anytime soon—and may well grow.

Any terrorism attack on home soil is more likely to be committed by a lone actor or a small group using simple methods and basic weapons such as knives, guns and vehicles.

The threat of espionage and foreign interference is at the highest it has ever been—higher even than during the Cold War. Espionage and foreign interference involves foreign actors, including state actors, trying to steal our secrets and interfere with and ultimately undermine our democracy. ASIO has responded to these threats with targeted investigations and campaigns that have meaningfully reduced harm. Working with their partners, their activities led to law enforcement outcomes and intelligence-led disruptions. Visas have been cancelled and spy networks dismantled. These activities have led to significant reductions in the number of foreign spies and their proxies operating here in Australia.

But ASIO remains concerned about the potential for Australia's adversaries to pre-position malicious code in critical infrastructure, particularly in areas such as telecommunications and energy. In this year's budget the government is giving ASIO unprecedented capacity to do what is required to protect our people and our national interest—$1.3 billion over 10 years. The additional investment will help ASIO to continue to out-imagine and outmanoeuvre sophisticated foreign adversaries and detect and disrupt violent extremists. It will significantly enhance ASIO's ability to identify and respond to threats posed by more-sophisticated groups, whether driven by religious or ideological motivations, or foreign interference. ASIO needs to keep up with technological developments and stay ahead of our adversaries; 97 per cent of priority counterterrorism investigations are being slowed down by ASIO's difficulty in excessing encrypted messaging. This is a serious challenge, especially when the Director-General reminds us that more data was created in the last two years than in the entire remaining human history. ASIO continues to adapt their counterterrorism efforts to respond to the changing security environment.

As a member of the Parliamentary Joint Committee on Intelligence and Security, I think I speak for all members of the committee when I say that we universally appreciate the candour, professionalism and independence of Mike Burgess, the Director-General of Security. I'd like to thank all the officers of ASIO for all they do to keep Australia and Australians safe.

Sharon Bird (Cunningham, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Is the motion seconded?

Josh Wilson (Fremantle, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Assistant Minister for the Environment) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I second the motion and reserve my right to speak.

Tim Watts (Gellibrand, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Assistant Minister for Communications and Cyber Security) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I thank the member for Berowra for moving this important motion regarding the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation, and I'm pleased to rise to support it, because the men and women of ASIO—indeed, across all our intelligence and security services—do incredibly important work to keep us safe and to secure the things we value as a nation. As ASIO's 2020-21 annual report, recently tabled in parliament, highlights, the threat environment we're dealing with is quite complex, challenging and changing. It's one of those threats in particular that I want to highlight today: the threat of cyber-enabled foreign interference.

Foreign interference is a real and significant threat to Australia's national sovereignty. ASIO Director-General Mike Burgess has been warning for some time about the increased scale and sophistication of espionage and foreign interference in our society. He's described them, appropriately I think, as threats to our way of life. Indeed, ASIO's annual report warns:

Based on current trends, we anticipate that espionage and foreign interference will supplant terrorism as Australia's principal security concern over the next five years.

It went on to say:

… espionage and foreign interference attempts by multiple countries remain unacceptably high.

These attempts occur on a daily basis. They are sophisticated and wide-ranging. They are enabled and accelerated by technology.

Labor shares the concerns of ASIO about the risk of cyber-enabled foreign interference. That's why we successfully moved to establish a select committee looking into it, chaired by my colleague Senator McAllister in the other place. With the threat of cyber-enabled foreign interference growing at such a rapid clip, we cannot be complacent and reactive in our approach to countering it. Effectively countering this threat requires that the government and our agencies be proactive, particularly when it comes to groups that are frequent targets of foreign interference but lack the institutional protections afforded to government and other critical infrastructure.

Given the continued public warnings from the highest levels of ASIO and the multiple instances of cyber-enabled foreign interference, this shouldn't still need to be said. In the past we've seen multiple cyberattacks on the university sector for the purposes of espionage and foreign interference. We've seen cyber-enabled campaigns of targeted harassment against journalists, human rights actors and members of diaspora communities in our society. One recent example that I want to draw the House's attention to is the Pegasus malware campaign recently revealed by the Guardian. Pegasus is a type of malware software developed by Israeli technology firm NSO Group. Once the system is infected, the malware allows the person operating it to extract messages, photos and emails; to record calls; and to secretly activate the microphones of a target's mobile phone. This software is sold by NSO Group to governments around the world, some of whom, it's been revealed in the past, are authoritarian regimes.

It's been reported that Pegasus was used to track down close associates of murdered journalist Jamal Khashoggi. The Guardian has claimed that a leaked data set of more than 50,000 phone numbers, obtained by Amnesty International, was a list of Pegasus targets and alleges that amongst the targets were politicians, journalists and activists. Unfortunately, Australians looking for information from the government or our intelligence services on how to find out whether they have been targeted by this malware have been left wanting. Some enterprising security researchers at Citizen Lab, out of the University of Toronto, developed a tool to enable individuals to check their devices for signs of compromise. Australians, particularly those most at risk, who have been targeted by cyber-enabled foreign interference, like members of our diaspora communities, journalists and think-tank members, could have benefited from a similar tool being made available by our security agencies for their use. It raises the question of why we aren't doing more to proactively identify opportunities to help at-risk members of diaspora communities targeted by authoritarian countries to protect themselves through strategic and scalable interventions of this kind. This should be a real focus for government and our security and intelligence agencies. Unfortunately, it seems that the Morrison government loves to use 'cyber-enabled foreign interference' as a buzzword at media conferences but hasn't yet shown the commitment to following through on protecting members of diaspora communities in the Australian general public from authoritarian countries. In the shadow of a federal election, this should become an even more urgent priority.

ASPI has identified dozens of elections that have been interfered with through cyber-enabled foreign interference in recent years. When asked by the Select Committee on Foreign Interference through Social Media who was responsible for responding to foreign interference during an election, the government's answer was: half a dozen entities within government but no single entity with lead responsibility. This is something that must be addressed as a matter of priority. The Parliamentary Joint Committee on Intelligence and Security has recently recommended that the government put in place a process during the caretaker period for an apolitical disclosure of cyber-enabled foreign interference. It has also highlighted the need to update caretaker provisions to provide classified briefings to the opposition during the caretaker period. If the government is serious about tackling cyber-enabled foreign interference, then implementing these recommendations is the least it can do. More broadly, it needs to give priority to proactively tackling this treat. (Time expired)

Celia Hammond (Curtin, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I, too, recognise the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation, ASIO, for the critical role it plays in protecting Australia and all Australians from threats to their security. ASIO works tirelessly to protect Australians from politically motivated and communal violence through collecting intelligence, analysing and investigating terrorism threats, and providing advice to and working with partners to strengthen public safety and intervene to disrupt terrorist attacks.

The need for ASIO, and the government's support for ASIO, has never been stronger given Australia's terrorism threat level has remained at 'probable' since it was declared that in 2014. ASIO's director-general, Mike Burgess, stated to Senate estimates in May this year:

Australia's threat environment is complex, challenging and changing. In terms of threat to life, terrorism threat level remains at probable and unfortunately will do so for the foreseeable future. Right now ASIO is aware of multiple religiously motivated violent extremists who want to kill Australians.

He also noted:

At the same time our investigations in ideologically motivated violent extremism such as racists and nationalists are approaching 50 per cent of our priority counterterrorism onshore caseload.

The director-general's words should serve as a disturbing yet important reminder that Australia's national security should never be met with complacency and that action must be taken to support ASIO and our other national security agencies in their everyday efforts to protect Australia against people and organisations that seek to bring violence, chaos and disruption upon us. That is why the Morrison government is committed to supporting ASIO in its efforts to protect the country and the Australian people.

As announced in the budget, the government is giving ASIO unprecedented capability uplift by investing $1.3 billion over the next 10 years. This substantial commitment will allow ASIO to sustain its operations, enhance its capabilities to operate in a more complex threat environment, and respond to challenges posed by rapid technological change. Part of that money, which I particularly want to focus on, is the commitment of $945 million for current operations, building capability and the Enterprise Transformation Program. This funding will significantly enhance ASIO's ability to identify and respond to threats posed by more and more sophisticated threat actors, whether motivated by violent extremism or attempts at espionage and foreign interference.

There's a long list of measures that this funding will support, but, just to name a few, the funding will enable ASIO to keep up with the latest technology that Australia's adversaries are using to undermine our national security. It will allow ASIO to defeat encryption based methods of communication, which are currently being exploited by terrorists and spies in an effort to conceal their plans to commit attacks on Australian soil. The investment will also allow ASIO to extract critical intelligence from large and complex data sets to connect the dots between that information, and more reliably identify potential threat indicators. It will accelerate ASIO's operational responses. And it will enable ASIO to promptly deliver detailed advice to government, industry and other stakeholders to ensure security threats are taken care of as soon as they are identified.

At the core of the Morrison government there has always been a robust, unmatched commitment to ensuring the protection of all Australians. Through this unprecedented investment in ASIO over the next decade, the government is ensuring that ASIO will continue to evolve so that it can to out-imagine and outmanoeuvre sophisticated foreign adversaries, detect and disrupt violent extremists, and ultimately protect the Australian people. I also note that the government continues to ensure that the exercise of these powers by our security agencies is subject to strong and uncompromising oversight, including through the Inspector-General, the INSLM and the PJCIS.

Finally, I would like to take this time to thank the many dedicated men and women who work in ASIO for the important work they do each day to protect their country and fellow Australians. Working for ASIO, much like our other national security agencies, takes a huge amount of sacrifice and commitment. Without their continued dedication, the many freedoms we enjoy on a daily basis and the incredible way of life we have in this country simply wouldn't exist.

Melissa McIntosh (Lindsay, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Australia's threat environment is complex, challenging and changing. The member for Berowra notes these comments from the Director-General of the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation, Mike Burgess, in ASIO's annual report tabled last week, 'It is of vital importance that we have an honest conversation with the Australian people about the challenges facing Australia from malicious actors who would seek to undermine our democratic institutions and threaten our way of life.'

In response to the rapid deterioration of our strategic landscape, and the increasingly frequent and complex threats we face, the Morrison government has embarked on a series of landmark investments, initiatives and partnerships to enhance our national security and protect our national interests. One area of extreme concern is espionage and foreign interference, which ASIO states is 'poised to become Australia's principal security concern over the next five years'. ASIO has identified sophisticated and wideranging espionage and foreign interference attempts occurring on a daily basis. The threat is higher now than during the Cold War.

The Morrison government is giving ASIO an unprecedented capability uplift to address this, by enhancing operational ability to counter these complex threats and respond to rapid technological change. One particular area enduring sustained, concentrated threats is our critical infrastructure. Our energy, telecommunications, health care, banking, food and water all exist in the increasing spectrum of grey-zone targets in the current environment. That's why the Morrison government is introducing new legislation to urgently protect Australia's critical infrastructure from cyber infiltration and attack. We're investing $1.25 billion over 10 years to enhance ASIO's ability to connect the dots through a human-led data-driven technology-enabled approach to threat detection. We are empowering our national security agencies—including ASIO, the Australian Signals Directorate, Australian Secret Intelligence Service, Australian Federal Police and more—to deter and respond to the complex, challenging and changing threats Australia is facing today. This is not unique to Australia's critical infrastructure. In the Indo-Pacific, we see rapid military modernisation, increased foreign interference, cyberthreats, the proliferation of disinformation and overt economic coercion. These wide-ranging strategic challenges require wide-ranging strategic responses. We are exercising multiple layers to strengthen our national security to keep Australians safe.

The Morrison government is further enhancing our ability to shape our environment, deter actions against our interests and, if required, respond with force by enhancing our relationships with trusted, like-minded partners. The establishment of a new trilateral security partnership with the United Kingdom and the United States, AUKUS, and the elevation of the Quad with India, Japan and the United States are testament to this. As the chair of the Australia-United States Parliamentary Friendship Group, I welcome this momentous step towards the interoperability between our great friend and ally at a bilateral level and within these significant multilateral partnerships. As the Prime Minister said in the first in-person meeting of Quad leaders in Washington DC:

We stand here, together, in the Indo-Pacific region, a region that we wish to be always be free from coercion, where the sovereign rights of all nations are respected and where disputes are settled peacefully and [in]accordance with international law.

Australia stands up for our values, especially in the face of adversity. We have shown this through the pandemic. From the beginning, Australia showed leadership leading the call on the international stage for an independent inquiry into the origins of COVID-19 that has wreaked havoc around the world, decimating lives and livelihoods. Australians have stood up each and every day, keeping each other safe and demonstrating our resilience as a nation. Former US ambassador to Australia, Arthur B Culvahouse Jr, recently applauded Australia for standing up for its sovereign right to protect the integrity of its communications, political processes and government deliberations in the face of what Ambassador Culvahouse calls 'unabashed economic coercion from the Chinese Communist Party'. I worked closely with Ambassador Culvahouse during his tenure through my role as chair of the Australia-United States Parliamentary Friendship Group, and I agree with his assessment of Australia's resilience.

Sharon Bird (Cunningham, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

There being no further speakers, the debate is adjourned and the resumption of the debate will be made an order of the day for the next sitting.