tag:theconversation.com,2011:/id/topics/australian-federal-police-6159/articlesAustralian Federal Police – The Conversation2023-10-08T19:27:05Ztag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2106262023-10-08T19:27:05Z2023-10-08T19:27:05ZThere are 750 unidentified human remains in Australia. Could your DNA help solve one of these cold cases?<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/548232/original/file-20230914-15-etoudo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C112%2C4513%2C3016&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/skull-bones-ruined-wooden-coffin-1180841596">Shutterstock</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Yesterday <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2023-10-08/how-genetic-genealogy-is-solving-australias-coldest-cases/102870058">it was announced</a> the Australian Federal Police (AFP) <a href="https://www.missingpersons.gov.au/support/national-dna-program-unidentified-and-missing-persons">National DNA Program for Unidentified and Missing Persons</a> used advanced DNA technology to assist South Australia Police resolve a 40-year-old missing persons case. </p>
<p>In January 1983, skeletal remains were found in roadside scrub on Kangaroo Island. Forensic testing over the years revealed he was male, middle-aged, of European ancestry, blue-eyed, 162–173cm tall and wore full dentures. </p>
<p>But it wasn’t until June 2023 that advances in forensic genomics and genealogy gave William Hardie his name back.</p>
<p>The AFP DNA program used similar technology to direct-to-consumer DNA testing companies like <a href="https://www.ancestry.com.au/dna/">AncestryDNA</a> and <a href="https://www.23andme.com/en-int/">23andMe</a>. These companies market themselves as a DNA-based way <a href="https://theconversation.com/at-home-dna-tests-just-arent-that-reliable-and-the-risks-may-outweigh-the-benefits-194349">to explore your ancestral origins</a> by simply sending in a saliva sample. But how is this technology used to solve cold cases? </p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/if-youve-given-your-dna-to-a-dna-database-us-police-may-now-have-access-to-it-126680">If you've given your DNA to a DNA database, US police may now have access to it</a>
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<h2>We share pieces of DNA with our relatives</h2>
<p>All humans are <a href="https://nigms.nih.gov/education/Inside-Life-Science/Pages/Genetics-by-the-Numbers.aspx">more than 99%</a> genetically identical. The genetic differences in the remaining 1% of the genome are what hints at our ancestors, as well as coding for other distinctive traits (for example, <a href="https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fgene.2018.00462/full">facial features</a> and <a href="https://www.science.org/content/article/landmark-study-resolves-major-mystery-how-genes-govern-human-height">height</a>).</p>
<p>Most consumer DNA testing companies use <a href="https://www.genome.gov/about-genomics/fact-sheets/DNA-Microarray-Technology">microarrays</a> to survey this non-identical DNA. Microarrays target a small fraction of the genome – up to a million genetic variants called single nucleotide polymorphisms or SNPs.</p>
<p>The reason we can match our DNA to relatives is because we inherit it from each of our biological parents. On average, half of our DNA (including the identical and non-identical parts) is shared with our parents and siblings – first degree relatives.</p>
<p>Going further, we share roughly a quarter of our DNA with second degree relatives, and an eighth with third degree relatives. As the genetic distance increases, we generally share <a href="https://dnapainter.com/tools/sharedcmv4">fewer and smaller pieces of DNA</a>.</p>
<p>Even so, it’s possible to detect the few small pieces of DNA we share with our ancestors (and their descendants) going back many generations.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/how-do-we-identify-human-remains-121315">How do we identify human remains?</a>
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<h2>A challenge for forensic samples</h2>
<p>But there are unique challenges for forensic scientists trying to identify human remains using ancestral DNA. In long-term missing persons cases, often the only remains found are skeletal.</p>
<p>In this scenario, DNA has to be extracted from bones or teeth. However, the DNA contained in these hard tissues will degrade with time and exposure to adverse environmental conditions (for example, long periods in <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0379073821001791">soil</a> and <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/00450618.2023.2181395?src=">seawater</a>).</p>
<p>As a result, the quantity and quality of extracted DNA is often <a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/35272198/#full-view-affiliation-1">insufficient</a> for microarray analysis. Whole genome sequencing – which can recover all <a href="https://nigms.nih.gov/education/Inside-Life-Science/Pages/Genetics-by-the-Numbers.aspx">3.2 billion</a> letters that make up the genetic code – is proving <a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/31981902/">more successful</a> for such samples, but it’s not yet available in Australian forensic laboratories.</p>
<p>To overcome these challenges, the AFP DNA program recently <a href="https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=4551904">validated</a> a forensic DNA kit for use in their accredited laboratory. The kit employs <a href="https://sapac.illumina.com/content/dam/illumina-marketing/documents/products/appspotlights/app_spotlight_forensics.pdf">targeted sequencing</a> to focus on about <a href="https://verogen.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/high-quality-outcomes-low-quality-samples-app-note-vd2021002-b.pdf">10,000 SNPs</a>.</p>
<p>While this new method doesn’t analyse as much DNA as microarrays or whole genome sequencing, it is enough to link genetic relatives <a href="https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=4466078">up to the fifth degree</a> (for example, second cousins or great-great-great grandparents), or sometimes further.</p>
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<img alt="white gloved hands unpacking a cotton swab for a dna test" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/541407/original/file-20230807-1249-63emwo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=221%2C113%2C3208%2C2340&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/541407/original/file-20230807-1249-63emwo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/541407/original/file-20230807-1249-63emwo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/541407/original/file-20230807-1249-63emwo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/541407/original/file-20230807-1249-63emwo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/541407/original/file-20230807-1249-63emwo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/541407/original/file-20230807-1249-63emwo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">A saliva sample contains enough DNA to sequence the whole genome of a living person, but for skeletonised human remains the DNA may be limited or damaged.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://unsplash.com/photos/aNEaWqVoT0g">Mufid Majnun/Unsplash</a></span>
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<h2>Combing through public databases and records</h2>
<p>Once a SNP profile is obtained – and after all other avenues of inquiry have been exhausted – the AFP DNA program will upload it to the <a href="https://pro.gedmatch.com/">GEDmatch PRO</a> and <a href="https://www.familytreedna.com/">FamilyTreeDNA</a> databases for comparison to the profiles of citizens who have volunteered their DNA to be used in this way.</p>
<p>If suitable genetic matches are found, a genetic genealogist will use public information to <a href="https://abcnews.go.com/2020/video/investigators-built-genetic-genealogy-leading-golden-state-killer-54949329">build out their family trees</a> until they discover (typically deceased) ancestors in common. From there, they will <a href="https://www.familysearch.org/en/wiki/Descendancy_Research">research</a> relevant family lines to find closer (ideally living) relatives of the unknown individual.</p>
<p>They may also work with police who can use investigative techniques, non-public information and <a href="https://www.yourdnaguide.com/ydgblog/targeted-dna-testing-family-history">targeted DNA testing</a> to fill in some branches of the tree and rule out others. The aim is to find a present-day family with a missing or unaccounted-for relative.</p>
<p>This process is known as <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9407302/">forensic investigative genetic genealogy</a>. It has revolutionised <a href="https://dnadoeproject.org/">John and Jane Doe investigations</a> and other <a href="https://www.intermountainforensics.com/understanding-genetic-geneaology">humanitarian efforts</a> in the United States. However, its use in Australia is still growing. It is also just one of <a href="https://wires.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1002/wfs2.1484">many forensic identification tools</a> and often used as a last resort.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/australia-has-2-000-missing-persons-and-500-unidentified-human-remains-a-dedicated-lab-could-find-matches-90620">Australia has 2,000 missing persons and 500 unidentified human remains – a dedicated lab could find matches</a>
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<h2>750 unidentified and 2,500 missing persons</h2>
<p>Currently, there are around 2,500 long-term missing persons and <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1875176822000208">750 unidentified human remains in Australia</a>.</p>
<p>AFP DNA program specialists are supporting state and territory police to identify these nameless individuals, link them to missing people and reunite them with families who’ve missed them for years.</p>
<p>So far, the AFP DNA program has been instrumental in resolving 46 cases. This includes identifying the remains of 15 missing Australians, including <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-03-01/coroner-confirms-bones-belong-to-missing-whyalla-man/100870540">Mario Della Torre</a>, <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2023-05-23/missing-person-owen-ryder-human-remains-identified-hermannsburg/102382936">Owen Ryder</a>, <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2023-08-10/qld-police-identify-remains-found-buried-brisbane-unit-complex/102711418">Tanya Glover</a> and <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2023-09-05/queensland-police-cold-case-murder-francis-foley-2008/102814926">Francis Foley</a>.</p>
<h2>How can you help if you have a missing relative?</h2>
<p>First, you should <a href="https://forms.afp.gov.au/online_forms/missing-person-details">report</a> them missing to the police if you haven’t already. Provide all known information relevant to the forensic investigation (including physical appearance, medical history and dentist’s details).</p>
<p>Second, you can <a href="https://www.missingpersons.gov.au/support/national-dna-program-unidentified-and-missing-persons#faq-DNA-testing-information">provide a reference DNA sample</a>. This simple procedure involves you swabbing the inside of your cheek and can be done at your local police station when making a missing persons report.</p>
<p>Your DNA profile will be uploaded to Australia’s <a href="https://www.acic.gov.au/services/biometric-and-forensic-services">national DNA database</a> so it can be compared to DNA profiles from unknown deceased persons across Australia with your consent.</p>
<p>This is critical for decades-old missing persons cases where few close genetic relatives remain.</p>
<h2>You can help if you’ve taken a consumer DNA test</h2>
<p>You may be distantly related to one of the unknown Australians without even knowing it.</p>
<p>Anyone who has done a consumer DNA test <a href="https://www.missingpersons.gov.au/support/national-dna-program-unidentified-and-missing-persons#faq-Forensic-Investigative-Genetic-Genealogy-information">can potentially help</a> identify missing people. To do so, you need to <a href="https://www.gedmatch.com/how-it-works/">download</a> your DNA data file, upload it to <a href="https://www.gedmatch.com/">GEDmatch</a> and choose to opt in or out of “law enforcement matching”. </p>
<p>If you opt in, you consent to your DNA being included in searches by police worldwide for the purpose of identifying human remains and solving violent crimes like homicides.</p>
<p>If you opt out, your DNA can still be used by the AFP DNA program to resolve unidentified and missing persons cases, but it won’t be used for criminal cases.</p>
<p>Without the leads from distant genetic relatives who had previously opted in to this type of DNA matching, it wouldn’t have been possible to connect human remains found on Kangaroo Island in 1983 to the family of William Hardie, who’ve missed him for over 40 years.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/is-your-genome-really-your-own-the-public-and-forensic-value-of-dna-95786">Is your genome really your own? The public and forensic value of DNA</a>
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<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Jodie Ward is also employed by the Australian Federal Police as the Program Lead of the National DNA Program for Unidentified and Missing Persons. She was involved in applying forensic investigative genetic genealogy to the unidentified human remains case found on Kangaroo Island, which assisted the South Australia Police to identify the remains as belonging to William Hardie. The National DNA Program for Unidentified and Missing Persons commenced in July 2020 and is currently funded under the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002 (Cth) until December 2023.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Dennis McNevin has been seconded to the Australian Federal Police National DNA Program for Unidentified and Missing Persons. He has also provided commercial scientific services to the NSW Police Force. He has previously received fuding for research on forensic genetics from the Australian Research Council, the AMP Tomorrow Fund, the ANU Connect Ventures Discovery Translation Fund and the US Army International Technology Center - Pacific.</span></em></p>DNA volunteered by citizens worldwide is helping to restore the identity of human remains found across Australia.Jodie Ward, Associate Professor, Centre for Forensic Science, University of Technology SydneyDennis McNevin, Professor of Forensic Genetics, University of Technology SydneyLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1726782021-11-26T03:18:26Z2021-11-26T03:18:26ZAs Australia deploys troops and police, what now for Solomon Islands?<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/434076/original/file-20211126-19-1pxt2xa.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">AP/AAP</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>On Thursday evening, Prime Minister Scott Morrison <a href="https://www.pm.gov.au/media/press-conference-canberra-act-30">announced</a> Australia would deploy police, diplomats and defence force personnel to Solomon Islands “to provide assistance” following serious <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/nov/25/honiaras-chinatown-targeted-as-violent-protests-break-out-for-second-day-in-solomon-islands">unrest</a> in the capital, Honiara. </p>
<p>As the initial deployment start their first day in Honiara, there are mixed reports of what is happening around them. Australia’s rapid response follows a request from the Solomon Islands government. </p>
<h2>What has been happening?</h2>
<p>On Wednesday, there were <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-11-25/solomon-islands-protests-explainer-china-taiwan/100648086">protests</a> against the government of Prime Minister Manasseh Sogavare, which deteriorated into rioting. </p>
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<p>These riots persisted, despite a snap 36-hour lockdown, ordered by the government to keep people off the streets. Thankfully, it appears there have been minimal injuries. However, damage to property has been extensive. Businesses in the Chinatown district were targeted, as has happened on several occasions previously. Public infrastructure, including at least one police post and the Honiara High School was also attacked.</p>
<p>After two days of rioting, looting, and arson, things seem to be a bit quieter on Friday. As Solomon Islanders emerge from the lockdown, they are taking stock, assessing damage, and starting to focus on what happens next for them, their communities, and their country.</p>
<h2>Why has this happened?</h2>
<p>The question of why this is happening involves a complex mix of domestic politics and geopolitical shifts. </p>
<p>It is way too simple to say that this is because Solomon Islands “<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/dec/08/when-china-came-calling-inside-the-solomon-islands-switch">switched</a>” allegiances from Taiwan to China in late 2019, as some analyses suggest. This was certainly a critical juncture for Solomon Islands. But to understand what is happening now, we need to take a wider and deeper perspective. </p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/pacific-nations-grapple-with-covids-terrible-toll-and-the-desperate-need-for-vaccines-164769">Pacific nations grapple with COVID's terrible toll and the desperate need for vaccines</a>
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<p>There has been a lot of focus on the discontent of people in the populous province of Malaita. The provincial premier, Daniel Suidani, has not held back in his criticism of the central government’s decision to trash its 36-year relationship with Taipei in favour of Beijing. And he enjoys strong support from his community. </p>
<p>Less prominent is the fact that the provincial leadership of Guadalcanal, where the capital Honiara is located, have also been highly critical of Sogavare.</p>
<p>Calls for his resignation relate to longstanding concerns about corruption, lack of service delivery, and insufficient consultation on the part of his government (including around the diplomatic switch in 2019). Indeed, many have commented that had Sogavare and his ministers come out to meet with protesters and engage in a dialogue this week, the ensuing disorder may have been avoided. </p>
<h2>The history of Australia in Solomon Islands</h2>
<p>On Thursday, it became clear the Royal Solomon Islands Police Force resources were being stretched to breaking point. This prompted Sogavare to look for assistance from friends and neighbours. Requests were made to both <a href="https://www.solomontimes.com/news/png-looking-to-deploy-defence-force-to-assist-solomon-islands/11295">Papua New Guinea</a> and Australia. </p>
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<img alt="Australian soldiers in Solomon Islands in 2007." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/434074/original/file-20211126-27-1pcpbgx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/434074/original/file-20211126-27-1pcpbgx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/434074/original/file-20211126-27-1pcpbgx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/434074/original/file-20211126-27-1pcpbgx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/434074/original/file-20211126-27-1pcpbgx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=501&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/434074/original/file-20211126-27-1pcpbgx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=501&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/434074/original/file-20211126-27-1pcpbgx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=501&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">Australian soldiers in Solomon Islands in 2007, during the RAMSI deployment.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Lloyd Jones/AAP</span></span>
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<p>The request to and response from Canberra marks the first activation of a security treaty that was signed between the two countries in 2017 further after “Operation Helpem Fren” (also known as the Regional Assistance Mission to Solomon Islands or RAMSI) ended. RAMSI was a multi-country deployment of police, military and government advisers led by Australia under the auspices of the Pacific Islands Forum between 2003 and 2017.</p>
<p>Morrison has made it clear this current response is an assistance mission, and not an intervention – as was the case for RAMSI. It is expected Australian personnel will be in Solomon Islands for a period of “weeks”. Their primary responsibility is to assist Solomon Islands’ law enforcement authorities in securing and protecting critical infrastructure. Under the terms of the treaty, there is scope for third countries – such as PNG and Fiji – to be joined to a mission, with the permission of the government of Solomon Islands.</p>
<h2>What next?</h2>
<p>What happens next is not easy to predict. </p>
<p>Sogavare says he will <a href="https://www.sbs.com.au/news/solomon-islands-pm-urges-calm-refuses-to-step-down-as-violent-protests-erupt/7e726921-03ba-49c7-bb05-5241189db0c5">not resign</a> as this would be anti-democratic and an acceptance of mob rule. He is also insisting alignment with China puts Solomon Islands on “the right side of history”. In fact he has gone further to (without naming names) <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-11-26/solomon-islands-pm-blames-foreign-powers-for-civil-unrest/100652048">imply</a> Taiwan and the United States are fomenting discord in his country.</p>
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<img alt="Australian personnel depart for Honiara on Thursday." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/434077/original/file-20211126-27-ady0sc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/434077/original/file-20211126-27-ady0sc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/434077/original/file-20211126-27-ady0sc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/434077/original/file-20211126-27-ady0sc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/434077/original/file-20211126-27-ady0sc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/434077/original/file-20211126-27-ady0sc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/434077/original/file-20211126-27-ady0sc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">Australian personnel depart for Honiara on Thursday.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Department of Defence/ AAP</span></span>
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<p>The people of Solomon Islands already bear a heavy burden. Their young population <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/apv.12311">lack opportunities</a> and it is no surprise to learn that many of those involved in this week’s disorder are teenage boys with no meaningful political agenda in mind, looking for whatever excitement presents itself on a given day. </p>
<p>While the country is COVID-free, the impacts of extended border closures have had significant economic impact on a country struggling to provide basic services to its population. For many, the events of the last few days have brought back unhappy and traumatic memories of the days of “The Tensions” – the inter-ethnic conflicts and bloodshed that led, eventually, to the RAMSI intervention.</p>
<p>The people of Solomon Islands are strong, resourceful, and resilient. They are blessed with some of the most articulate and strategic thinkers of our region who can help them navigate what the future brings. Australia <a href="https://www.lowyinstitute.org/the-interpreter/honiara-smoke-subsides">has an opportunity</a> to walk the talk of “tru wantok” (Pidgin for “real friend”) and support them in this journey.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/172678/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Tess Newton Cain does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>It is way too simple to say the current unrest is just due to Solomon Islands’ new allegiance towards China.Tess Newton Cain, Adjunct Associate Professor, Griffith Asia Institute, Griffith UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1574252021-06-16T03:17:30Z2021-06-16T03:17:30ZAs organised crime makes headlines, are bikie gangs the threat they are made out to be?<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/406387/original/file-20210615-13-1ixnccc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Victoria Police</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Organised crime has been front page news after the Australian Federal Police <a href="https://theconversation.com/the-most-significant-police-operation-in-australian-history-how-it-worked-and-what-it-means-for-organised-crime-162342">revealed</a> its pivotal role in a multinational sting, three years in the making. </p>
<p>Along with drug cartels, the mafia and Asian crime syndicates, the <a href="https://www.afp.gov.au/news-media/media-releases/afp-led-operation-ironside-smashes-organised-crime">AFP listed</a> bikie gangs as one of the prime targets of Operation Ironside, with media reports also <a href="https://www.couriermail.com.au/news/national/operation-ironside-bikies-using-an0m-warned-to-hand-themselves-in/news-story/c5c38e241dc15bd007d6b1b813ce1bcf">highlighting the role of bikies</a>. </p>
<p>This follows <a href="https://www.watoday.com.au/national/western-australia/wa-bikie-gang-colours-to-be-banned-under-bold-police-proposal-to-dismantle-and-destroy-criminal-networks-20210317-p57bo5.html">recent calls</a> from Western Australian police commissioner Chris Dawson for tougher laws against bikies to tackle organised crime. </p>
<p>But are outlaw motorcycle gangs the serious organised crime threat they are made out to be?</p>
<h2>Outlaw motorcycle gangs</h2>
<p>According to the Australian Institute of Criminology an outlaw motorcycle gang is a motorcycle club used by members to engage in criminal activity. This activity <a href="https://www.aic.gov.au/sites/default/files/2020-05/ti586_australian_omcg_involvement_in_violent_and_organised_crime.pdf">can include</a>: </p>
<blockquote>
<p>violent crimes designed to protect the club and its reputation, its members and its territory, and more profit-motivated crimes that enhance the gang’s power or economic resources.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Outlaw motorcycle gangs have been the prime target in Australia’s fight against organised crime in recent years, with the <a href="https://www.acic.gov.au/about-crime/priority-crime-themes/gangs">Australian Criminal Intelligence Commission</a> identifying them as a priority crime “theme” (along with cyber crime and illicit drugs). It launched a <a href="https://www.acic.gov.au/about/determinations/outlaw-motor-cycle-gangs-special-acic-operation-2020">special operation</a> against bikie gangs in 2020, describing them as a “significant threat”. </p>
<p>In the wake of Operation Ironside, the AFP’s anti-gangs squad commander Andrew Donoghoe <a href="https://www.couriermail.com.au/news/national/operation-ironside-bikies-using-an0m-warned-to-hand-themselves-in/news-story/c5c38e241dc15bd007d6b1b813ce1bcf">told The Courier Mail</a>:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>They are purely an organised crime network that is there to make money, generally off drug dealing, sometimes off intimidation and acts of violence and with no remorse for anyone, including innocent members of the community being hurt or killed in the process.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>But the common assumption that all members of bikie gangs are criminals is incorrect. </p>
<h2>What type of crime do they commit?</h2>
<p>Much of the rationale for targeting bikie gangs is they predominately commit <a href="https://www.publications.qld.gov.au/dataset/taskforce-on-organised-crime-legislation">high-level</a> or serious offences, such as murder, drug trafficking and extortion.</p>
<p>But our analysis of crime data in two Australian jurisdictions shows outlaw motorcycle gangs in both Queensland and the ACT contribute less than 1% to most organised crime offence categories. For example, in Queensland, between 2008 and 2014, bikie members represented 1% of murders and 0.1% of reported robberies. In the ACT between 2000 and 2019, gang members represented 0.4% of reported drug offences and 0.3% of unlawful weapons possessions. </p>
<p>The top ten offences by numbers committed by bikie gang members are minor offences such as low-level drug possession, driving offences and public nuisance. </p>
<h2>How much crime are we talking about?</h2>
<p>A 2020 study by the <a href="https://www.aic.gov.au/publications/tandi/tandi586">Australian Institute of Criminology</a> showed 12.5% of bikie gang members had a history of organised crime offending. But this finding is problematic in that it relies on apprehension data. Not all apprehensions will result in a court appearance or caution, or a finding of guilt. </p>
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<p>Importantly, bikie gang members are subjected to over-policing and targeting. The failed prosecution rate for outlaw gang members charges is much higher than the general population rate on data available both in the <a href="https://justice.act.gov.au/independent-review-effectiveness-act-policing-crime-scene-powers-and-powers-target-disrupt">ACT</a> and <a href="https://www.police.qld.gov.au/sites/default/files/2018-12/Task%20Force%20Bletchley.pdf">Queensland</a>. </p>
<p>For example, the failed prosecution rate for bikie gang members in Queensland is 23%, compared to 6% for the general population. In the ACT, the rate is 27% compared to 4%.</p>
<p>Queensland <a href="https://research.bond.edu.au/en/publications/an-examination-of-outlaw-motorcycle-gangs-and-their-involvement-i">government data</a> shows outlaw motorcycle gang members were found guilty of just 0.17% of all reported offences in the state from 2008 to 2014. This accords with a separate 2016 <a href="https://www.publications.qld.gov.au/dataset/taskforce-organised-crime-report">taskforce in Queensland</a>, which noted:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>On any view of all the statistics, [outlaw motorcycle gangs] account for a very small proportion of the overall reported crime in Queensland – definitively, less than 1%.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>In 2019, we <a href="https://justice.act.gov.au/independent-review-effectiveness-act-policing-crime-scene-powers-and-powers-target-disrupt">conducted a review</a> of the criminal activity of all current outlaw motorcycle gang members in the ACT. We found they were guilty of 0.06% of all reported ACT offences between 2000-2019.</p>
<h2>The role of the gang structure in criminal enterprise</h2>
<p>One could fairly have expected broader involvement of bikie gangs to been uncovered Operation Ironside’s three-year, landmark investigation. Yet of some <a href="https://www.acic.gov.au/sites/default/files/2020-09/AGICC%20-%20OMCG%20patch%20Identification%20Chart.pdf">44 clubs</a> in Australia, to date only the Comancheros and Lone Wolves received any specific mention. </p>
<p>One reason for this is that bikie gangs do not usually engage in organised crime as a collective unit. Rather, their threat arises from small numbers of members conspiring with other criminals for a common purpose. </p>
<p>A <a href="https://www.aic.gov.au/publications/tandi/tandi621">systemic review </a> of relevant research by Australian Institute of Criminology in March 2021 found if bikie gang members are involved in crime – especially organised crime, </p>
<blockquote>
<p>it appears that they tend to operate in small, loose networks that may include other [outlaw motorcycle gang] members but also individuals who are not members.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>A <a href="https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10611-018-9771-1">2018 study</a> noted individuals within the group were more likely to interact with other criminal groups and freelance for common criminal purposes. </p>
<h2>What are the big organised crime threats?</h2>
<p>The <a href="https://www.acic.gov.au/publications/annual-reports/australian-criminal-intelligence-commission-annual-report-2019-20">Australian Criminal Intelligence Commission</a> says around 70% of Australia’s serious and organised criminal threats have an offshore base or linkage. </p>
<p>Operation Ironside has shown just how attractive Australia is to overseas criminal groups other than just bikie gangs, with groups such as the mafia, Asian and Eastern European crime groups are now operating in Austalia’s criminal markets.
<a href="https://www.theaustralian.com.au/nation/mexican-drug-cartels-on-rise/news-story/c28395bd2d23fde4c5b530b4929a4f36">Mexican drug cartels</a> are also moving into Australia’s lucrative methamphetamine market. </p>
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<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/the-great-bikie-beat-up-why-we-shouldnt-confuse-crime-lords-with-boofheads-on-bikes-18896">The great bikie beat-up: why we shouldn't confuse crime lords with boofheads on bikes</a>
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<p>So when it comes to organised crime, we need to look beyond simple generic responses, such as <a href="https://theconversation.com/criminalising-conversations-australias-damaging-love-affair-with-consorting-laws-53633">consorting laws</a> — that theoretically stop bikies from interacting with each other — and bring a more nuanced approach to fighting organised crime. </p>
<p>Bikies make good headlines and are seen as the “usual suspects”, but we also need to look at the data to support our policy, legislative and investigative decisions.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/157425/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Terry Goldsworthy has previously received funding from the Australian Capital Territory Government to conduct an independent review of its responses to organised crime.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Gaelle Brotto has previously received funding from the Australian Capital Territory Government to conduct an independent review of its responses to organised crime. </span></em></p>Outlaw motorcycle gangs have been the prime target in Australia’s fight against organised crime in recent years. But the idea all members of bikie gangs are criminals is incorrect.Terry Goldsworthy, Associate Professor in Criminology, Bond UniversityGaelle Brotto, Assistant Professor Criminology and Criminal JusticeLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1623422021-06-09T01:44:18Z2021-06-09T01:44:18ZThe ‘most significant’ police operation in Australian history — how it worked and what it means for organised crime<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/405016/original/file-20210608-19-1tq1khx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">AAP/Victoria Police/supplied</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>The Australian Federal Police made <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2021/06/08/world/australia/operation-trojan-horse-anom.html">global news</a> this week with the revelation its <a href="https://www.afp.gov.au/news-media/media-releases/afp-led-operation-ironside-smashes-organised-crime">Operation Ironside</a> helped sting organised crime gangs around the world. </p>
<p>This was part of a broader, three-year operation with the FBI and other law enforcement agencies. Home Affairs Minister Karen Andrews <a href="https://www.smh.com.au/national/mass-raids-arrests-across-australia-after-police-sting-dismantles-encrypted-app-used-by-criminals-20210607-p57yya.html">described it</a> as the “most significant operation in policing history here in Australia”.</p>
<h2>How did it start?</h2>
<p>Operation Ironside started with an investigation and closing down by the FBI of a company called <a href="https://www.unodc.org/unodc/en/untoc20/truecrimestories/phantom-secure.html">Phantom Secure</a> in 2018. </p>
<p>The Vancouver-based company provided modified Blackberry phones that operated on an encrypted network that could not be decrypted or wire-tapped by police. These devices were used exclusively by criminal networks to conduct various criminal enterprises on a global scale. </p>
<p>Clients included the <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/world-latin-america-40480405">Mexican Sinaloa drug cartel</a> and the Hells Angels outlaw motorcycle gang in Australia. Some 20,000 devices were believed to be in use at the time the company’s CEO, Vincent Ramos, was arrested in February 2018.</p>
<p>Next, the AFP and FBI worked together <a href="https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/20799201-operation-trojan-shield-court-record">to fill the void</a> left by Phantom Secure with a new encrypted device named <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-06-08/fbi-afp-underworld-crime-bust-an0m-cash-drugs-murder/100197246">AN0M</a>. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/how-an-app-to-decrypt-criminal-messages-was-born-over-a-few-beers-with-the-fbi-162343">How an app to decrypt criminal messages was born 'over a few beers' with the FBI</a>
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<p>Under <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/world-57394831">Operation Trojan Shield</a>, police distributed AN0M among criminals, using a confidential human source — a <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2021/jun/08/how-the-fbi-and-australian-police-gained-a-front-seat-view-of-underworld-workings-in-90-countries">convicted narcotics importer</a>. This source had been working with FBI agents since 2018 in exchange for the possibility of a reduced sentence for other charges he was facing.</p>
<p>This source has previously distributed Phantom Secure devices and agreed to distribute the devices to his existing network of distributors and clients.</p>
<p>As the AFP explained:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>You had to know a criminal to get hold of one of these customised phones. The phones couldn’t ring or email. You could only communicate with someone on the same platform.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Little did criminals know that law enforcement and the source had built a master key into the existing encryption system. This master key surreptitiously attached to each message, enabling police to decrypt and store messages as they were transmitted. So, AN0M was a Trojan horse, not with Greeks inside, but law enforcement.</p>
<h2>Australia’s role</h2>
<p>Court records <a href="https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/20799201-operation-trojan-shield-court-record">unsealed this week</a> provide a fascinating insight into how the operation unfolded. </p>
<p>In October 2018, the source distributed 50 devices to targets in Australia. In this test phase, Australian police saw 100% of the AN0M users were using the app for criminal activity. </p>
<p>Intercepted conversations also showed targets were willing to provide the devices to senior members of organised crime groups overseas. So, a global criminal investigation was now underway. </p>
<p>Since October 2019, the FBI has catalogued more than 20 million messages from a total of 11,800 devices in more than 90 countries. The top five countries where AN0M devices are currently used are Germany, the Netherlands, Spain, Australia, and Serbia. </p>
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<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/5kq5VeHRvV0?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">AFP officers talk about Operation Ironside.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<p>With the assistance of Europol - the European Union’s law enforcement agency — the FBI identified more than 300 transnational organised crime groups using the AN0M devices for criminal enterprises.</p>
<p>The sophistication of the criminal operations is revealed by the fact criminal organisations compartmentalised their activities with multiple brands of hardened encrypted devices. </p>
<p>For example, some users assigned different types of devices to different parts of drug trafficking transactions. In some instances, AN0M was used for the logistics of the drug shipments, but <a href="https://www.theaustralian.com.au/business/technology/organised-crime-hangs-up-on-ciphr/news-story/33d0696a5c4d3b5574dbd6cfdfbeb0bb">Ciphr</a> or <a href="https://www.zdnet.com/article/sky-ecc-denies-police-have-cracked-encryption-messaging-platform/">Sky</a> were used to coordinate the concealment of the illicit proceeds. </p>
<p>This compartmentalisation shows how connected the encrypted communications device industry is to organised criminal activity.</p>
<h2>Implications for Australia</h2>
<p>The haul from Operation Ironside is impressive. </p>
<p>It has led to the arrest of 224 offenders on 526 charges in every mainland Australian state. Since 2018, 3.7 tonnes of drugs, 104 weapons, A$44,934,457 million in cash, and assets worth millions of dollars have been seized.</p>
<p>The AFP also responded to 20 threats to kill, potentially saving the lives of innocent bystanders, with intelligence referred to state police. For example, last week, police rescued <a href="https://www.news.com.au/national/nsw-act/crime/former-bikie-dillon-mancuso-rescued-after-allegedly-being-kidnapped-in-sydney/news-story/455f340571c29063a746c965ca2ec8b1">former bikie Dillon Mancuso</a>, who was allegedly snatched from his Sydney home by a group of armed men.</p>
<h2>The challenge ahead</h2>
<p>But the operation has also shown how Australia has become a destination of choice for transnational organised crime groups. </p>
<p>In its annual report, the <a href="https://www.acic.gov.au/publications/annual-reports/australian-criminal-intelligence-commission-annual-report-2019-20">Australian Criminal Intelligence Commission</a> notes about 70% of Australia’s serious and organised criminal threats are based offshore or have strong offshore links.</p>
<p>There is also a strong market for illegal drugs. As <a href="https://www.afp.gov.au/news-media/media-releases/afp-led-operation-ironside-smashes-organised-crime">AFP Commissioner Reece Kershaw acknowledged</a>:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>Organised crime syndicates target Australia, because sadly, the drug market is so lucrative. Australians are among the world’s biggest drug takers.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Examples of this are the <a href="https://www.theaustralian.com.au/nation/mexican-drug-cartels-on-rise/news-story/c28395bd2d23fde4c5b530b4929a4f36">Mexican drug cartels</a> expanding into Australia’s lucrative methamphetamine market.</p>
<p>Law enforcement should be congratulated for the outcome of this operation — but this is far from the end of their work. While we have dealt transnational organised crime a heavy blow, the war will continue as law enforcement seek to stay one step ahead in the race against organised crime.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/162342/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Terry Goldsworthy does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>The haul from Operation Ironside is impressive. But it has also shown how Australia has become a destination of choice for transnational organised crime groups.Terry Goldsworthy, Associate Professor in Criminology, Bond UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1210022019-07-29T05:08:45Z2019-07-29T05:08:45ZMeet Reece Kershaw, the new AFP commissioner. He’s confronted superiors before, and will need to again<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/285993/original/file-20190729-43104-gxx2si.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Kershaw has demonstrated he is not afraid of change and tackling integrity issues in his previous roles – traits that could serve him well in his new job. </span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Mick Tsikas/AAP</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>When Reece Kershaw <a href="https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/new-afp-commissioner-vows-to-examine-investigations-into-journalists-20190724-p52aa3.html">takes over</a> as the new commissioner of the Australian Federal Police (AFP) in October he will become the eighth person to lead the organisation since its creation in 1979. </p>
<p>Kershaw becomes commissioner at a critical time for the AFP. The organisation is not in the media’s good books following its <a href="https://theconversation.com/explainer-what-are-the-media-companies-challenges-to-the-afp-raids-about-119382">post-election raids</a> on journalists working for the ABC and News Corp. </p>
<p>His role will be even more challenging with the AFP now sitting in the Home Affairs portfolio. The AFP Association (AFPA), the union representing 6,500 AFP members, <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2019/mar/15/federal-police-must-split-from-dutton-ministry-to-save-integrity-says-union">claims</a> the AFP is losing its independence and integrity in the super portfolio. The danger is that the AFP will become politicised over time. </p>
<p>Kershaw has demonstrated he is not afraid of change and <a href="https://www.pfes.nt.gov.au/Media-Centre/Media-releases/2017/April/10/NTPFES-Diversity-and-Inclusion-Initiatives.aspx">tackling thorny integrity issues</a> – traits that could serve him well in his new role. </p>
<p>The question remains, however, whether Kershaw will oversee another transformative era for the AFP, or if our current political and security environment will require more of a focus on organisational stability.</p>
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<h2>A police force trusted by the public</h2>
<p>The AFP was created following the most serious terrorist attack in Australia – the <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2018-02-13/sydney-hilton-hotel-bombing-daughter-of-victim-40-years-on/9425336">Sydney Hilton hotel bombing</a> in 1978. In the wake of the attack, the Fraser government commissioned Sir Robert Mark, the London Metropolitan Police deputy commissioner, to report on <a href="https://parlinfo.aph.gov.au/parlInfo/search/display/display.w3p;query=Id%3A%22publications%2Ftabledpapers%2FHPP052016005700%22">Australia’s policing capabilities</a>. The opening of the report noted that </p>
<blockquote>
<p>some aspects of policing are … common to all free societies; for example, the extent to which the effectiveness of a police force depends on public confidence and support arising from its accountability. </p>
</blockquote>
<p>The AFP’s dependence on public confidence has not changed in the 40 years since its formation.</p>
<p>Choosing a first commissioner to lead the AFP was difficult. Mark recommended the merger of the ACT and Commonwealth police forces, both of which already had a commissioner. In adopting Mark’s recommendations, the <a href="https://parlinfo.aph.gov.au/parlInfo/search/display/display.w3p;query=Id%3A%22media%2Fpressrel%2FHPR10025024%22">Fraser government chose</a> <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2010-01-01/sir-colin-woods-is-appointed-as-the-first/1194984">Sir Colin Woods</a>, another former deputy commissioner of the London Metropolitan Police, as the first head of the AFP.</p>
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<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/the-australian-federal-police-needs-to-be-free-to-do-its-job-without-political-interference-86300">The Australian Federal Police needs to be free to do its job without political interference</a>
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<p>The choice of Woods, another Englishman, avoided a choice of the Commonwealth commissioner over the ACT commissioner – or vice versa. </p>
<p>Woods’ successors were Major General Ron Grey; Northern Territory commissioners Peter McAulay and Mick Palmer; and AFP deputy commissioners Mick Keelty, Tony Negus and Andrew Colvin (who is <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2019/jul/15/australian-federal-police-boss-andrew-colvin-stands-down-from-job">stepping aside</a> at the end of September). </p>
<p>Changes in the political environment over the years, as well as heightened security concerns from crime and terrorism, have required some of these men to be greater agents of change than others. </p>
<p>Palmer, for instance, <a href="http://classic.austlii.edu.au/au/journals/AUFPPlatypus/2001/2.html">remodelled</a> the AFP’s national arm from a quasi-military service to a more flattened team structure during his term as commissioner from 1994-2001. This created a flexible and dynamic model of policing that put the AFP in a good position to handle the terrorist threats that followed the <a href="https://www.history.com/topics/21st-century/9-11-attacks">9/11 attack</a> and <a href="https://www.nma.gov.au/defining-moments/resources/bali-bombings">2002 Bali bombings</a>. </p>
<p>The AFP doubled in size <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/am/content/2008/s2561998.htm">under Keelty’s watch from 2001-09</a>. In 2004, Keelty contradicted the Howard government and warned that Australia’s involvement in the Iraq war had increased the threat of terrorist attacks <a href="https://www.theage.com.au/national/police-and-pm-at-odds-on-terror-20040316-gdxi3y.html">at home</a>. Despite criticism from <a href="https://www.theage.com.au/national/police-and-pm-at-odds-on-terror-20040316-gdxi3y.html">Prime Minister John Howard and Attorney-General Philip Ruddock</a>, Keelty held firm, <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/pm/content/2004/s1068971.htm">supported by other police commissioners</a> and a public that understood the risks. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/285994/original/file-20190729-43140-b7b6ci.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/285994/original/file-20190729-43140-b7b6ci.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=468&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/285994/original/file-20190729-43140-b7b6ci.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=468&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/285994/original/file-20190729-43140-b7b6ci.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=468&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/285994/original/file-20190729-43140-b7b6ci.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=588&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/285994/original/file-20190729-43140-b7b6ci.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=588&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/285994/original/file-20190729-43140-b7b6ci.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=588&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">During his time as commissioner, Mick Keelty was fond of saying, ‘If a police force doesn’t have its integrity, it has nothing.’</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Alan Porritt/AAP</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>This action, among others, helped build public trust in the AFP. The latest <a href="https://www.essentialvision.com.au/trust-in-institutions-12">Essential poll</a> in March showed that the AFP – along with other police services – enjoyed the highest level of public trust of any Australian institution and organisation. </p>
<p>Maintaining this trust will be one of Kershaw’s key challenges, particularly in the wake of the AFP media raids. </p>
<p>When I was working for the AFP, I often heard Keelty tell audiences:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>If a police force doesn’t have its integrity, it has nothing.</p>
</blockquote>
<h2>Kershaw’s focus on integrity issues</h2>
<p>Kershaw began his policing career with the AFP in 1988 and clearly learned lessons about leadership integrity while serving under Keelty. </p>
<p>In 2011, Kershaw <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2019-07-24/reece-kershaw-federal-police-career-northern-territory/11343548">joined the Northern Territory police</a>, and as deputy NT commissioner four years later, <a href="https://www.ntnews.com.au/news/from-the-nt-to-the-afps-top-job-who-is-reece-kershaw/news-story/3bac85604284caa33bde00b78c587d94">was forced to confront, and eventually give evidence</a> in court against his boss, then-Commissioner John McRoberts.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/media-raids-raise-questions-about-afps-power-and-weak-protection-for-journalists-and-whistleblowers-118328">Media raids raise questions about AFP's power and weak protection for journalists and whistleblowers</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p><a href="https://www.smh.com.au/national/former-nt-police-chief-john-mcroberts-jailed-for-12-months-20180626-p4znsi.html">McRoberts was eventually found guilty</a> for attempting to pervert the course of justice in a fraud investigation into his former lover. It was the biggest scandal involving an Australian police commissioner since the conviction of <a href="https://www.police.qld.gov.au/aboutUs/facilities/museum/celebrate/history/Documents/List%20of%20Qld%20Police%20Commissioners%201864-2019.pdf">Terry Lewis</a> for corruption after the <a href="https://theconversation.com/thirty-years-on-the-fitzgerald-inquiry-still-looms-large-over-queensland-politics-119167">Fitzgerald inquiry in Queensland</a>. </p>
<p>Kerhsaw then stepped into the NT commissioner role, which he held until his current promotion.</p>
<p>The reports that have followed Kershaw’s shift from NT to federal commissioner are telling. The acting NT commissioner, Michael Murphy, <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2019-07-24/reece-kershaw-federal-police-career-northern-territory/11343548">praised</a> Kershaw for confronting integrity failures at all levels. </p>
<blockquote>
<p>We need to police by consent, that is vitally important. Commissioner Kershaw made it quite clear that if you can’t align with those values, then you shouldn’t really belong to a public safety agency. </p>
</blockquote>
<p>This reflects the Mark report’s observations on the role of the police from 40 years ago.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/the-new-department-of-home-affairs-is-unnecessary-and-seems-to-be-more-about-politics-than-reform-81161">The new Department of Home Affairs is unnecessary and seems to be more about politics than reform</a>
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</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>Kershaw’s ability as a deputy commissioner to confront his superior also shows the moral strength expected of police leaders. He will need to exercise this strength in his new role as the political pressures on the AFP are sure to increase. </p>
<p>The Morrison government will likely demand that any future national security leaks be <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2016-03-03/defence-leaks-a-matter-of-national-security-scott-morrison/7217178">investigated</a>. These have always been sensitive for any government. And special references from government - <a href="https://www.afp.gov.au/sites/default/files/PDF/ccpm-july-2016.pdf">the technical term that includes leaks</a> - cannot be ignored by the AFP. </p>
<p>Dealing with the special references from government in a balanced way will shape a bigger challenge for Kershaw – maintaining the AFP’s independence in the Home Affairs portfolio. If the AFP becomes permanently enmeshed within the Home Affairs culture, it may indeed lose its identity. </p>
<p><div data-react-class="Tweet" data-react-props="{"tweetId":"922935260173631488"}"></div></p>
<p>In the 78 years between the time of federation in 1901 and the creation of the AFP, the Commonwealth relied on <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/publication/316066103_A_Short_History_of_the_Australian_Federal_Police">ten different police forces</a>. It then took years to overcome the ACT-Commmonwealth rivalry within the AFP. With the 40th anniversary of the AFP now approaching, few if any serving officers will have known anything but the current culture of the AFP.</p>
<p>Defending and improving this culture through further integrity-building will benefit both the AFP and the Australian community at large. We should all wish Kershaw success in these endeavours.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/121002/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Adam Masters was an Australian Federal Police appointee between 1991 and 2009.</span></em></p>The new AFP commissioner faces challenges unlike those of his predecessors, such as ensuring the independence and integrity of the police force within the Home Affairs ministry.Adam Masters, Lecturer, Australian National UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1190782019-06-20T07:21:35Z2019-06-20T07:21:35ZWhy we should be wary of expanding powers of the Australian Signals Directorate<p>Last week, Home Affairs Minister Peter Dutton <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/insiders/peter-dutton-joins-insiders/11214610">reignited</a> the debate about new spying powers for Australian authorities during an interview on the ABC Insiders program. </p>
<p>His comments followed a police raid on <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/world-australia-48511217">a journalist’s home</a> earlier this month related to the leaking of sensitive documents detailed in a <a href="https://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/news/nsw/spying-shock-shades-of-big-brother-as-cybersecurity-vision-comes-to-light/news-story/bc02f35f23fa104b139160906f2ae709">story</a> published in 2018. The documents outlined discussions and proposals for new powers for the <a href="https://www.asd.gov.au/about/index.htm">Australian Signals Directorate</a> (ASD) to monitor Australian citizens. </p>
<p>Dutton was at pains to deny this on Sunday’s ABC Insiders interview, stating:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>Well if you look back to what I said at the time, we don’t support spying on Australians, that was a complete nonsense.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>But he went on to say:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>I think there needs to be a sensible discussion about whether or not we’ve got the ability to deal with threats that we face.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>So let’s take a look at the powers the ASD currently has, and whether new powers are really needed.</p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/r9xNIKH4ZZI?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">ABC Insiders interview with Home Affairs Minister Peter Dutton.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/why-the-raids-on-australian-media-present-a-clear-threat-to-democracy-118334">Why the raids on Australian media present a clear threat to democracy</a>
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</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>What is the role of the ASD?</h2>
<p>The ASD became a statutory agency in 2018 following the <a href="https://www.pmc.gov.au/national-security/2017-independent-intelligence-review">recommendations of an intelligence review</a> in 2017. </p>
<p>It sits within the Defence portfolio and is <a href="https://www.asd.gov.au/about/introduction.htm">responsible for</a>:</p>
<ul>
<li>cyber security </li>
<li>collection and communication of foreign signals intelligence</li>
<li>prevention and disruption of offshore cyber-enabled crime</li>
<li>support for military operations</li>
<li>assisting the national security community in Australia. </li>
</ul>
<p>Its focus is on activity that takes place outside Australia.</p>
<h2>What new powers are we talking about?</h2>
<p>The government hasn’t revealed any official plans to increase the powers of the ASD, but the original 2018 <a href="https://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/news/nsw/spying-shock-shades-of-big-brother-as-cybersecurity-vision-comes-to-light/news-story/bc02f35f23fa104b139160906f2ae709">story</a> written by Daily Telegraph journalist Annika Smethurst cited leaked documents suggesting the ASD would gain powers to secretly spy on Australian citizens. </p>
<p>The powers proposed in the documents reportedly included the ability to access emails, bank records and text messages of Australian citizens without their knowledge. (Currently, under the <a href="https://www.legislation.gov.au/Details/C2019C00018">Federal Intelligence Services Act</a>, the ASD is restricted to gathering intelligence and fighting cyber crime offshore.)</p>
<p>Under current laws, the Australian Federal Police (<a href="https://www.afp.gov.au/what-we-do">AFP</a>) and the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation (<a href="https://www.asio.gov.au/what-we-do.html">ASIO</a>) are the primary federal organisations with the power to undertake actions against individuals or organisations within Australia. The Intelligence Services Act does allow for requests of assistance to be made of the ASD, but these must be at the direction of the responsible minister. </p>
<p>In the case of <a href="https://www.asio.gov.au/special-powers.html">ASIO</a>, the Attorney-General can issue a warrant for the use of special powers, such as entering a premises to insert listening devices. A warrant to question or detain a person can only be obtained by applying to a judge appointed by the Attorney-General.</p>
<p>The AFP primarily obtains its search warrants and powers under the <a href="http://www5.austlii.edu.au/au/legis/cth/consol_act/ca191482/s3e.html">Commonwealth Crimes Act</a>. It needs to convince a judge that there is reasonable grounds for issuing the warrant.</p>
<p>By contrast, Smethurst’s story alleged that the expanded powers would allow the ministers for defence and home affairs to authorise a warrant sought by the ASD to undertake onshore actions, without judicial oversight.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/280166/original/file-20190619-171196-o7lnv9.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/280166/original/file-20190619-171196-o7lnv9.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/280166/original/file-20190619-171196-o7lnv9.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=481&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/280166/original/file-20190619-171196-o7lnv9.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=481&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/280166/original/file-20190619-171196-o7lnv9.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=481&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/280166/original/file-20190619-171196-o7lnv9.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=605&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/280166/original/file-20190619-171196-o7lnv9.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=605&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/280166/original/file-20190619-171196-o7lnv9.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=605&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">National Inteligence Community.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.oni.gov.au/national-intelligence-community">Screengrab, Office of National Intelligence</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/explainer-how-the-australian-intelligence-community-works-94422">Explainer: how the Australian intelligence community works</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>Are the new powers needed?</h2>
<p>On Sunday’s Insiders program, Dutton attempted to frame the argument for new powers in terms of criminal activity. He used the examples of online paedophilia and cyber attacks on institutions such as banks and universities. </p>
<p>For that argument to work, we would have to see <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2019-02-20/is-australia-cyber-hacking/10825642">cyber attacks on our institutions</a> originating from within Australia. That is simply not a current threat, and this has <a href="https://www.csis.org/programs/cybersecurity-and-governance/technology-policy-program/other-projects-cybersecurity">certainly not been the case</a> generally.</p>
<p>The <a href="https://www.oaic.gov.au/privacy-law/privacy-act/notifiable-data-breaches-scheme/quarterly-statistics-reports/notifiable-data-breaches-scheme-12-month-insights-report">Office of the Information Commissioner</a> reported that in the 12 months to March 31, 2019, there were 964 data breach notifications under the National Data Breach scheme, 60% of these were criminal or malicious. But no specific details are provided as to where the threat originated from.</p>
<p>The reality is that law enforcement agencies already have powers that allow them to access emails, bank records and text messages of Australian citizens – usually after satisfying a judge there is a reasonable need to do so. </p>
<p>The AFP currently targets online child abuse and paedophilia with the <a href="https://www.afp.gov.au/what-we-do/crime-types/child-protection/virtual-global-taskforce">Virtual Global Taskforce</a>, which cooperates with INTERPOL, EUROPOL and other law enforcement agencies. The AFP Child Protection Operations (<a href="https://www.afp.gov.au/what-we-do/services/child-protection/online-child-sex-exploitation">CPO</a>) team “performs an investigative and coordination role within Australia for multijurisdictional and international online child sex exploitation matters. It deals with cases in the online, and travel and tourism environments”.</p>
<p>In addition, the AFP’s Cybercrime Investigation teams within the <a href="https://www.cyber.gov.au/">Australian Cyber Security Centre</a> can undertake targeted intelligence to investigate cybercrimes of national significance. In any event, either ASIO or the AFP can make requests for assistance from the ASD under the Act as required. </p>
<p>The key difference is that under the new proposals is that some of these activities could being done in secret. </p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/Th6EKCwhGrs?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">Mike Burgess, Director-General on the Australian Signals Directorate, delivers an address on offensive cyber security.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/a-state-actor-has-targeted-australian-political-parties-but-that-shouldnt-surprise-us-111997">A state actor has targeted Australian political parties – but that shouldn't surprise us</a>
</strong>
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</p>
<hr>
<h2>We should be concerned</h2>
<p>The leaked proposal effectively suggests a blurring of the line between an externally focused defence organisation and internally focused law enforcement agencies. If the new powers are in line with those reported last year, they could potentially sideline the Attorney-General, and give the home affairs and defence ministers power in the approval process for use of the ASD’s functions. </p>
<p>It would take powers primarily designed to defend Australia against external threats and use them for internal investigations against Australian citizens. </p>
<p>Australians should rightly be concerned about any shift to an intelligence or investigative model that is based on the introduction of greater powers on the one hand, and less oversight and governance on the other.</p>
<p>The case needs be made that current laws and powers are ineffective and that there is a real need for any additional powers. Only then should serious consideration be given to the proposals outlined above. Issues of governance and transparency should be paramount in any realistic discussion of increasing the role and power of the ASD.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/119078/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Terry Goldsworthy does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Australians should be concerned about any shift to an intelligence model that is based on the introduction of greater powers on the one hand, and less oversight and governance on the other.Terry Goldsworthy, Associate Professor in Criminology, Bond UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/793352017-06-13T04:24:54Z2017-06-13T04:24:54ZShould Australia have a Modern Slavery Act?<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/173510/original/file-20170613-10220-17wat11.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Businessman Andrew Forrest and his wife Nicola are strong advocates of anti-slavery measures.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">AAP/Alan Porritt</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>There has been a flurry of activity recently in relation to establishing a Modern Slavery Act in Australia. This has included a <a href="http://www.aph.gov.au/Parliamentary_Business/Committees/Joint/Foreign_Affairs_Defence_and_Trade/ModernSlavery">parliamentary inquiry</a> and Labor’s <a href="https://d3n8a8pro7vhmx.cloudfront.net/australianlaborparty/pages/7652/attachments/original/1496620518/170605_LABOR_TO_FIGHT_MODERN_SLAVERY.pdf?1496620518">recent policy release</a> on the topic. </p>
<h2>Is slavery a problem in Australia?</h2>
<p>First, there is no doubt that activities associated with modern slavery, such as human trafficking, servitude and forced labour, are grave human rights issues, requiring a dedicated and co-ordinated response. </p>
<p>Governments cannot solve the problem on their own. It is a particular issue in countries like India, but also occurs in Australia.</p>
<p>Between 2004 and 2016, the Australian Federal Police received <a href="https://www.ag.gov.au/CrimeAndCorruption/HumanTrafficking/Documents/Report-of-the-interdepartmental-committee-on-human-trafficking-and-slavery-july-2015-to-June-2016.pdf">almost 700 referrals</a> relating to suspected human trafficking and slavery-related crimes, though only 17 people <a href="https://www.ag.gov.au/CrimeAndCorruption/HumanTrafficking/Documents/Report-of-the-interdepartmental-committee-on-human-trafficking-and-slavery-july-2015-to-June-2016.pdf">have so far been convicted</a> of these offences. </p>
<p>Most recently, in February 2017, two men pleaded guilty to charges of <a href="http://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/queensland/slave-house-pair-to-be-deported-to-taiwan-20170208-gu88bj.html">servitude</a> relating to their treatment of Taiwanese workers in Brisbane.</p>
<p>Recent media reports of exploitation of migrant workers in Western Australian <a href="https://thewest.com.au/news/wa/rude-awakening-for-sleepy-workers-ng-b88399983z">farms</a> and <a href="http://www.abc.net.au/news/rural/2014-05-05/wa-vegetable-industry-rocked-by-criminal-activity/5431426">market gardens</a>, Victorian <a href="http://www.theage.com.au/victoria/chinese-fruit-pickers-underpaid-10000-in-northern-victoria-20150525-gh8tev.html">farms</a>, and in <a href="http://www.smh.com.au/business/workplace-relations/7eleven-investigation-exposes-shocking-exploitation-of-convenience-store-workers-20150828-gja276.html">7-Eleven retail stores nationwide</a>, suggests this is a real – but often hidden – issue in Australia.</p>
<h2>What developments are underway for a Modern Slavery Act in Australia?</h2>
<p>Moves are underway in Australia to introduce new laws to tackle slavery that will operate outside the existing criminal law framework. </p>
<p>On February 15, a parliamentary inquiry into <a href="http://www.aph.gov.au/Parliamentary_Business/Committees/Joint/Foreign_Affairs_Defence_and_Trade/ModernSlavery">establishing a Modern Slavery Act in Australia</a> was launched. The terms of reference for the inquiry specifically refer to the UK’s <a href="http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2015/30/contents/enacted">Modern Slavery Act</a> and to relevant findings from the Joint Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs, Defence and Trade’s 2013 report <a href="http://www.aph.gov.au/parliamentary_business/committees/house_of_representatives_committees?url=jfadt/slavery_people_trafficking/report.htm">Trading Lives: Modern Day Human Trafficking</a>.</p>
<p>Although the UK’s Modern Slavery Act has seven parts, including protection for victims, civil and criminal provisions, new maritime enforcement mechanisms, and the establishment of an anti-slavery commissioner, the focus has overwhelmingly been on its impact on businesses.</p>
<p>The act and associated regulations require businesses with a turnover of £36 million or more to disclose what they are doing to eliminate slavery and trafficking from their supply chains and their own businesses. It appears <a href="http://www.abc.net.au/news/2016-12-02/ending-modern-slavery-in-australia/8085922">there is support</a> from people in the business community, and faith-based and other non-governmental organisations, for a similar business reporting initiative in Australia.</p>
<p>A key promoter of the introduction of a Modern Slavery Act here is businessman and philanthropist Andrew Forrest. He and his wife Nicola established <a href="https://www.walkfreefoundation.org/about/">Walk Free</a>, a Perth-based international non-governmental organisation with a mission to “end modern slavery in our generation”.<br>
Walk Free was one of the 173 organisations and individuals to make a submission to the parliamentary inquiry. </p>
<p>Although submissions varied in terms of how modern slavery and trafficking might best be tackled, there was broad, in-principle support for the introduction of an act. This includes submissions by businesses such as Qantas and Wesfarmers, both of which already report on their anti-slavery efforts under the UK legislation.</p>
<p>There is apparent bipartisan support for the initiative. The Coalition government has been <a href="http://www.minister.border.gov.au/peterdutton/2016/Pages/target-human-trafficking-and-slavery.aspx">exploring options</a> for business reporting over the last several years through the Supply Chains Working Group set up as part of the National Roundtable on Human Trafficking and Slavery.</p>
<p>Labor has expressed strong support for the introduction of new business reporting obligations, proposing to go further than the UK by imposing <a href="http://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-06-05/shorten-calls-for-crackdown-on-businesses-using-slavery/8590360">penalties on businesses</a> in Australia that fail to report on their anti-slavery efforts. </p>
<p>In the UK, as well as at an international level, compliance with such reporting obligations is primarily driven by considerations of public opinion.</p>
<h2>What international obligations exist?</h2>
<p>Several voluntary international obligations relevant to modern slavery exist. Globally, more than 9,400 organisations from over 160 countries have committed as participants to the United Nations Global Compact (<a href="https://www.unglobalcompact.org/">UNGC</a>). This is the world’s largest corporate sustainability initiative, actively engaging in responsible human rights and labour practices.</p>
<p>The Global Compact Network Australia (<a href="http://www.unglobalcompact.org.au/about/gcna/">GCNA</a>) brings together UNGC participants, other leading companies, non-profit organisations and universities – including <a href="http://www.news.uwa.edu.au/201608238961/august-2016/uwa-joins-un-global-compact">the University of Western Australia</a> – to advance these same goals in Australia.</p>
<p>Furthermore, the UN has <a href="http://www.ohchr.org/Documents/Publications/GuidingPrinciplesBusinessHR_EN.pdf">guiding principles on business and human rights</a>. Foreign Minister Julie Bishop has recently established an <a href="http://foreignminister.gov.au/releases/Pages/2017/jb_mr_170602b.aspx">advisory group</a> on the implementation of these principles.</p>
<p>OECD guidelines for multinational enterprises also apply to Australian businesses. For example, the associated dispute resolution mechanism has been used to bring a <a href="http://static1.squarespace.com/static/580025f66b8f5b2dabbe4291/58169937bb7f1e05acdfbeea/58169a12bb7f1e05acdfd043/1477876242459/HRLC_RAID_Complaints_OECD_Guidelines_specific_instance_G4S_Sep2014.pdf?format=original">complaint</a> against security firm GS4 Australia for conditions and alleged abuse of detainees on Manus Island.</p>
<h2>Will an Australian Modern Slavery Act prove effective?</h2>
<p><a href="https://www.walkfreefoundation.org/news/uk-independent-modern-slavery-commissioner-set-visit-australia/">Last week’s visit</a> to Australia by Kevin Hyland, the UK anti-slavery commissioner, was timely. </p>
<p>Although the UK legislation has received a cautious welcome so far, it is too early to judge whether it will have any meaningful impact on reducing worker exploitation.</p>
<p>In Australia, longstanding criminal laws against trafficking and slavery have not prevented their occurrence and, for the most part, have not been relied on by authorities to prosecute exploitation. The effectiveness of pursuing employers for the exploitation of migrant workers via the Fair Work Ombudsman <a href="https://theconversation.com/why-were-making-no-progress-tackling-the-exploitation-of-migrant-workers-62961">is also limited</a>.</p>
<p>By extending the responsibility to tackle exploitation to include business and not just government, it is hoped that the introduction of an Australian Modern Slavery Act will help tackle worker exploitation. However, there remains a risk that this initiative will continue the trend of side-stepping the root causes of worker exploitation in this country.</p>
<p>Vulnerability to workplace exploitation is closely <a href="http://www.smh.com.au/business/workplace-relations/border-obsession-opens-door-to-workplace-slavery-20151130-glc5le.html">connected</a> to the regulation of migration and labour. </p>
<p>Therefore, as well as receiving the support of Australia’s business community, any proposed solution to this problem must engage with government policies and practices affecting migration and migrant labour to reduce worker vulnerability.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/79335/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Fiona McGaughey has previously received a bursary from Graduate Women (WA).</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Dave Webb coordinates UWA's commitment to the UNGC and the GCNA.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Peta-Jane Hogg receives funding from a University Postgraduate Award. </span></em></p>Any proposed solution to the problem of modern slavery must engage with the business community and government policies on migration and migrant labour.Fiona McGaughey, Lecturer, Faculty of Law, The University of Western AustraliaDave Webb, Associate Professor of Marketing and Business Ethics, The University of Western AustraliaPeta-Jane Hogg, PhD Candidate in Law, The University of Western AustraliaLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/781982017-05-25T03:29:46Z2017-05-25T03:29:46ZFrom live streaming to TOR: new technologies are worsening online child exploitation<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/170897/original/file-20170525-13199-1c8rmty.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Australia must develop an effective national response to the sharing and creation of child exploitation material online.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/russian-hacker-hacking-server-dark-532748287?src=lV9GWh3o4dqE3EEQROArZQ-1-0">www.shutterstock.com</a></span></figcaption></figure><p><em>This story contains detail of child abuse some readers may find disturbing.</em></p>
<p>Ease of access to technologies such as live streaming is increasing the production and spread of child exploitation material online.</p>
<p>Our report, <a href="http://www.antislavery.org.au/newsflash/286-new-report-launching-soon-behind-the-screen-online-child-exploitation-in-australia.html">Behind the Screen: Online Child Exploitation in Australia</a>, brings together cases and data from international and Australian law enforcement agencies, as well as interviews with government, police and non-governmental organisations, to provide an alarming snapshot of the challenge we face.</p>
<p>Tens of thousands of images and video are already available online, and the problem is likely to worsen without comprehensive action.</p>
<h2>New technologies and child exploitation</h2>
<p>In Australia and around the world, rates of live-streamed child abuse via webcam, video footage and image capture are growing.</p>
<p>Figures from the Internet Watch Foundation support this trend, showing that reports of child sexual abuse imagery rose by <a href="http://www.antislavery.org.au/images/behind%20the%20screen%20-%20report.pdf">417% between 2013 and 2015</a>. The Australian Federal Police <a href="http://www.antislavery.org.au/images/behind%20the%20screen%20-%20report.pdf">received 11,000</a> online child exploitation reports in 2015. </p>
<p>Technological advancements including anonymising programs <a href="https://www.torproject.org/">such as TOR</a>, peer to peer networking technology and the capacity for increased online file storage and sharing, has facilitated the widespread sharing and storing of harmful material.</p>
<p>This view was shared by a senior officer from the Queensland Police Project “Argos”, which investigates online child exploitation. He told us,</p>
<blockquote>
<p>Back in the early 2000s we were dealing with kilobytes and megabytes. Now we are dealing with petabytes, mainly terabytes when we do our seizures… [T]he cheaper cost of storage whether it be cloud based or hard disk based is creating obviously, larger seizures on our front.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Responding to new technology is challenging. Online child exploitation crimes are difficult to track and measure, given the spread of more secure technologies, such as streaming services, the anonymity provided by <a href="https://theconversation.com/what-is-the-dark-web-and-how-does-it-work-63613">the “dark web”</a> and less traceable payment systems <a href="https://theconversation.com/what-is-bitcoin-it-is-not-that-complicated-if-you-ignore-the-geek-speak-46512">such as Bitcoin</a>. </p>
<p>In the words of a senior officer with Argos,</p>
<blockquote>
<p>How difficult is it? Look, if they are using TOR and they are set up and don’t make mistakes, it’s impossible. We’re reliant on some fairly innovative law enforcement techniques and them making errors… if they’re using proxies or anonymising services using encryptions and using the so-called Darknet or TOR, it would be very tough… the hidden web is very, very challenging, but you know that doesn’t mean we give up. We keep trying. </p>
</blockquote>
<h2>The cases of Shannon McCoole and Matthew Graham</h2>
<p>The production and sharing of child exploitation online was key to two recent Australian criminal cases.</p>
<p>In 2016, Matthew Graham <a href="https://www.cdpp.gov.au/sites/g/files/net391/f/MR-20160317-Child%20Exp-Graham-FINAL.pdf">was sentenced</a> to 15 years imprisonment for distributing child exploitation material.</p>
<p>Graham administered online websites and forums between 2012 and 2014. He shared hundreds of thousands of images, including videos of the torture and rape of a young child in the Philippines, and in one instance, encouraged the rape and murder of a child in Russia. </p>
<p>The United States Federal Bureau of Investigations described Graham’s network as “one of the largest and most extreme in the world”. </p>
<p>In 2015, Shannon McCoole <a href="http://www.abc.net.au/news/2016-02-26/convicted-paedophile-shannon-mccoole-to-give-evidence/7193462">was sentenced</a> to 35 years imprisonment with charges related to his role as head administrator of a global online network with 45,000 members. </p>
<p>The sentencing judge in the McCoole case drew attention to the challenges posed by secretive computer networks and websites created for the specific purpose of distributing exploitative material.</p>
<blockquote>
<p>The network allowed communication between individuals in a secure fashion that enabled them to contact each other and share data without necessarily identifying themselves. It was highly sophisticated, elaborate, organised and controlled.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>The McCoole case also showed that Australian law has not kept pace with the scale and nature of the crimes. While McCoole was based in Australia and operated the network here, our research found there are no federal legislative provisions dealing with the administration of online child exploitation material networks where the administrator is based in Australia. </p>
<p>In contrast, a few state jurisdictions have introduced provisions, although the effectiveness of these new laws has not been tested.</p>
<h2>What Australia should do</h2>
<p>Australia must confront the rapid increase of gravely exploitative material online.</p>
<p>We need to review the effectiveness of our existing regulatory frameworks, including those governing internet service providers, search engines and social media services. </p>
<p>We recommend the following steps be taken, among others:</p>
<ul>
<li>Outdated industry codes must be changed. Particularly, there is a lack of clarity relating to the legal obligations of internet service providers to report child exploitation material that is hosted on their networks.</li>
<li>A peak national body with representatives from government, law enforcement agencies and other key stakeholders at state, territory and commonwealth levels should be established to review all relevant legislation. </li>
<li>The Broadcasting Services Act must be amended so instances of online child exploitation material on servers hosted in Australia are identified and investigated. </li>
<li>Sentencing outcomes for online exploitation offences should be researched to further explore the relationship between human trafficking and online child exploitation. </li>
</ul>
<p>Offenders are routinely caught with thousands of images. A coordinated and powerful response is necessary if we are to protect children.</p>
<p><em>Anyone can report abuse or illegal activity online to the Australian Federal Police using a form <a href="https://www.afp.gov.au/what-we-do/services/child-protection/online-child-sex-exploitation#report-suspicious-behaviour-online">available here</a>. To report emergencies, such as a child who is in immediate danger or risk, call 000, Crimestoppers on 1800 333 000 or your local police station.</em></p>
<p><em><strong>Correction:</strong> The Internet Watch Foundation <a href="https://www.iwf.org.uk/news/iwf-announce-record-reports-of-child-sexual-abuse-online">has found</a> that reports of child sexual abuse imagery rose by 417% between 2013 and 2015. This figure was originally incorrectly credited to the Australian Federal Police.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/78198/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>The research received funding from the Rainbow Fish Foundation. </span></em></p>The Behind the Screen: Online Child Exploitation in Australia report provides an alarming snapshot of a growing crime.Jennifer Burn, Professor, Faculty of Law and Director of Anti-Slavery Australia, University of Technology SydneyLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/773492017-05-21T20:11:18Z2017-05-21T20:11:18ZDinosaur embryo returned to China, but many fossils fall victim to illegal trade and poor protection<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/169905/original/file-20170518-12226-c8t73n.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Fossilised dinosaur eggs in nests, uncovered by a raid on illegal fossils in 2004. </span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://www.flinders.edu.au/people/john.long">John Long </a>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>China’s record of life’s past history on Earth is second to none. </p>
<p>The country is famous especially for the excellent preservation of the 130 million year old <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/nature/life/Microraptor">feathered dinosaurs</a> and <a href="https://australianmuseum.net.au/image/confuciusornis">early birds</a> from Liaoning Province. These specimens have reframed the narrative about how birds evolved from <a href="http://www.ucmp.berkeley.edu/diapsids/saurischia/theropoda.html">theropod</a> dinosaurs. </p>
<p>China has also long been famous for its abundance of fossil dinosaur egg localities. </p>
<p>A <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/ncomms14952">recent study just published</a> reveals that a well-preserved nest of the largest known dinosaur eggs, called “<em>Macroelongatoolithus</em>” from Henan Province, contains a complete skeleton of a dinosaur new to science, <em>Beibeilong</em>. </p>
<p>It’s a case that brings a stark reminder that incredible scientific findings rely not only on careful and ethical research activities among scientists across the world, but also on governments that value scientific heritage.</p>
<h2>New dinosaur revealed in returned fossil</h2>
<figure class="align-left zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/169904/original/file-20170518-12237-1iowfu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/169904/original/file-20170518-12237-1iowfu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/169904/original/file-20170518-12237-1iowfu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=1633&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/169904/original/file-20170518-12237-1iowfu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=1633&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/169904/original/file-20170518-12237-1iowfu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=1633&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/169904/original/file-20170518-12237-1iowfu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=2052&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/169904/original/file-20170518-12237-1iowfu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=2052&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/169904/original/file-20170518-12237-1iowfu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=2052&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">An artist’s rendition, showing the approximate size of the Beibeilong embryo inside a Macroelongatoolithus egg.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.nature.com/articles/ncomms14952#supplementary-information">Vladimir Rimbala/Nature Communications</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The <em>Macroelongatoolithus</em> fossil, first uncovered back in late 1992 or early 1993, became famous when it made the cover of National Geographic magazine in 1996, and the baby dinosaur was dubbed “<a href="http://news.nationalgeographic.com/2017/05/baby-louie-dinosaurs-giant-eggs-new-species/">Baby Louis</a>” after photographer Louis Psihoyos.</p>
<p>The new research links this 23cm long curled dinosaur embryo to a strange clade of dinosaurs named <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caenagnathidae">caenognathids</a>. It is new dinosaur, named <em>Beibeilong</em>, meaning “baby dragon”. </p>
<p>The adults of this group were large, toothless forms with short curve beaks, perhaps best represented by closely related forms like <a href="http://lbry-web-007.amnh.org/digital/index.php/items/show/44720"><em>Oviraptor</em></a>. They looked more like giant zombie parrots than your run-of-the-mill dinosaur.</p>
<p>Other oviraptosaurs have been found in China with complete coverings of feathers on the body, and sporting large expanded tail feathers (<a href="https://www.britannica.com/animal/Caudipteryx"><em>Caudipteryx</em></a>). </p>
<p><em>Beibeilong</em> had a stretched out “snout to vent” (that is, from nose to base of the tail) length of 38cm, making it a very big embryo. The eggs it came from are among the largest known of all dinosaur eggs, measuring up to 45cm in length.</p>
<p><em>Beibeilong</em> would therefore have been among the biggest of the caenagnathid dinosaurs, and like its close cousin <a href="https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/gigantoraptor-is-a-bird-is-a-dinosaur-is-a-mystery/"><em>Gigantoraptor</em></a>, may have reached sizes of around 8 metres and weighed up to 1,400kg. They were less terrifying than other theropods, being omnivores feeding on seeds, plants and occasional small animals. </p>
<h2>Not just another dino story</h2>
<p>Yet there is more to this story than just another new dinosaur discovery.</p>
<p>It was and still is illegal to <a href="http://www.academia.edu/5816302/Out_of_China_Dinosaur_eggs_and_the_Law_on_Kong_Long_Dan">export Chinese dinosaur</a> fossils. </p>
<p>In 2003 the famous “Baby Louis” fossil was acquired by the <a href="https://www.childrensmuseum.org">Indianapolis Children’s Museum</a> in the US, imported through The Stone Company, which dealt with the sale of fossils. The museum had an agreement with China that it would repatriate the fossil after a period of display, and this agreement was finalised in late 2013, when the fossil made it home to Henan Province. </p>
<p>Canadian dinosaur expert <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philip_J._Currie">Phil Currie</a> and his team went back to China to track down where the fossil had originally been found. They found the farmer who discovered the specimen, and were able to find other egg fragments that matched the original specimen to confirm its locality. </p>
<p>This story had a happy ending but it is reminiscent of another side to the fossil business. In those days, many Chinese fossils were being smuggled out illegally to markets in the US, Germany, Japan and other countries who were not part of the <a href="http://whc.unesco.org/en/conventiontext/">UNESCO convention</a> agreeing to repatriation of other country’s cultural heritage items.</p>
<p>In 2002 I wrote <a href="https://www.newscientist.com/article/mg17723785.600-the-dinosaur-dealers-by-john-long/">a book</a> outlining these issues, and stating case studies of the international illegal fossil trade. Penalties were extremely harsh in China. </p>
<p>In 1995 three Chinese men caught trying to sell 16 dinosaur eggs were sentenced to five and half years imprisonment. At the time there were many shops in Australia openly selling Chinese dinosaur eggs. It had to be stopped, so I was brought in to assist both local police units in some states, and the Australian Federal Police (AFP) to advise them.</p>
<h2>How we stopped the illegal fossil trade in Australia</h2>
<p>It was dark, well before sunrise, on a cold June day in 2004, when a fleet of AFP cars came to pick me up. </p>
<p>A large haul of suspected illegal fossils was identified at a private residence south of Perth, so I had been brought in as the expert witness and fossil identifier. It was crucial to know with 100% certainty if the fossils represented species from Australia, which meant no crime had been committed, or if they were smuggled in from China, where it is against the heritage laws of the country to export certain fossils. </p>
<p>At the time the Chinese government had made a request to Australian officials to specifically crack down on illegal Chinese fossils being sold in Australian fossil shops. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/169868/original/file-20170518-24350-15ybqbg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/169868/original/file-20170518-24350-15ybqbg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/169868/original/file-20170518-24350-15ybqbg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/169868/original/file-20170518-24350-15ybqbg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/169868/original/file-20170518-24350-15ybqbg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/169868/original/file-20170518-24350-15ybqbg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/169868/original/file-20170518-24350-15ybqbg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/169868/original/file-20170518-24350-15ybqbg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The author identifying fossils during an Australian Federal Police raid on a private property in Western Australia, June 2004. Approximately A$6 million worth of illegally imported fossils from China were seized and eventually repatriated.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">John Long, Flinders University</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The dawn raid went well. The warehouse had many large packing crates, piled on top of each other from floor to ceiling. I spent all that day opening crates, examining and photographing the fossils. </p>
<p>That night I sent many images to my palaeontological colleagues in China to obtain confirmation that every specimen we unpacked belonged to species only found in China. </p>
<p>This totally nailed the case for the AFP. Even the wrapping paper provided good evidence for the case, as each fossil was wrapped in Chinese newspapers giving approximate dates and specific provinces of the wrapping event. </p>
<p>About A$6 million dollars worth of illegal <a href="http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2004/06/17/1087245016562.html">chinese fossils were seized that day</a>. </p>
<p>In 2008, after the AFP had finished with the evidence, the whole collection was <a href="http://www.abc.net.au/news/2008-01-15/aust-returns-illegally-imported-fossils-to-china/1013232">handed back to China</a> at a ceremony at the Chinese Embassy in Canberra. </p>
<p>The vast collection – including superb dinosaur eggs, dinosaur skeletons, many fossil rhinoceros and sabre-tooth cat skulls, exquisite complete fish fossils, and beautiful long-necked marine reptiles – was all handed back to Chinese officials in Canberra, at the Chinese Embassy. To show their gratitude for our efforts, the Chinese government gave a gift of several important Chinese fossil specimens to two Australian museums.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/169908/original/file-20170518-12231-49rh9g.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/169908/original/file-20170518-12231-49rh9g.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/169908/original/file-20170518-12231-49rh9g.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/169908/original/file-20170518-12231-49rh9g.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/169908/original/file-20170518-12231-49rh9g.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/169908/original/file-20170518-12231-49rh9g.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/169908/original/file-20170518-12231-49rh9g.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Then Environment Minister, Peter Garrett returns retrieved fossils to China at a ceremony at the Chinese Embassy, Canberra in 2008.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://www.flinders.edu.au/people/john.long">John Long</a>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>After this case was heavily publicised, the illegal importing of fossils from China was stopped in Australia. The threat of large fines or jail sentences for illegal fossil imports reinforced how seriously the government views these offences. </p>
<p>In the case quoted above, the importer of the fossils pleaded he knew nothing about the illegality of importing Chinese fossils. In a show of mercy he was neither fined nor prosecuted. Instead, he lost several million Australian dollars worth of fossils which he had purchased and imported.</p>
<p>Few illegal fossils have been detected for sale in this country since then.</p>
<h2>New threats to protecting fossil sites</h2>
<p>In recent years new threats to the protection of significant fossil sites are emerging, and this time it’s not from illegal activity. </p>
<p>Donald Trump recently issued a <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2017/apr/26/trump-national-monuments-review-obama-wilderness">Presidential Executive Order</a> to “review prior national monument designations and propose changes or modify or rescind lands”. </p>
<p>One under threat is Bears Ears National Monument in Utah. Aside from its very significant cultural value to <a href="http://bearsearscoalition.org/about-the-coalition/">some 30 Native American peoples</a>, the area contains very important fossils sites that could suddenly be open to unwanted exploitation by amateur fossil hunters or commercial dealers. </p>
<p>Many vertebrate fossil discoveries already made in the area <a href="http://www.sciencemag.org/news/2017/04/trump-trying-shrink-bears-ears-national-monument-heres-why-scientists-are-worried">are the only examples of their</a> kind in the USA or the world, including new species of extinct fish, amphibians, mammal-relatives, and reptiles.</p>
<p>President of the <a href="http://vertpaleo.org/the-society/leadership.aspx">Society of Vertebrate Paleontology</a>, Dr David Polly has said in a private correspondance:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>Legal regulation has become key for ensuring that paleontologists can continue discovering the history of life on Earth. The few protections that are in place in the US are currently threatened by reviews of public lands, such as at Bears Ears and Grand Escalante Staircase National Monuments.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>In addition, the threat of development over highly significant fossil sites here in Australia is not to be overlooked. One such case is the internationally famous <a href="https://theconversation.com/we-need-to-protect-the-fossil-heritage-on-our-doorstep-42263">Beaumaris Fossil sites</a> in Melbourne, currently under threat of being built over by a proposed marina. A proposed dam at Cranky Rock near Orange has also been raised as a <a href="http://www.abc.net.au/radionational/programs/breakfast/caves-and-fossil-fields-threatened-by-cranky-rock-dam-in-nsw/8532006">potential threat</a> to fossils at Cliefden Caves. </p>
<p>Fossils are a part of our natural and cultural heritage. They tell a story that we all need to hear - how we evolved, and where we are heading as a species. </p>
<p>It’s my opinion that we must stand up against development and legislation that could result in the desecration of internationally significant fossil sites, and the potential loss of unique scientific specimens.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/77349/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>John Long receives funding from The Australian Research Council</span></em></p>A new, “baby dragon” dinosaur revealed in a fossil returned to China is a striking example of the discoveries that might be lost when scientific specimens are illegally removed and traded.John Long, Strategic Professor in Palaeontology, Flinders UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/601902016-05-30T05:41:16Z2016-05-30T05:41:16ZPaying a high price for embarrassing the government<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/124445/original/image-20160530-7706-1njdm2j.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Involving the media seems to send the message of how unpleasant the AFP can make life for people who challenge the government.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">AAP/Lukas Coch</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>None of the politicians are talking about it, but threats to freedom of speech have emerged in three different guises in the first three weeks of the election campaign.</p>
<p>First there was the assailing of Duncan Storrar by that bastion of free speech, News Corp, for having had the nerve to put his head above the parapet on the ABC TV program Q&A, by questioning the fairness of the federal budget.</p>
<p>The newspaper company dredged up his criminal history – his last conviction was eight years ago – and revealed unhappy aspects of his family life.</p>
<p>It was a chilling spectacle for other private citizens. Despite a disability and poor education, Storrar wished to make himself heard in the national debate.</p>
<p>The second case concerned Dr Peter Young, psychiatrist and whistleblower.</p>
<p>Young was responsible for supervising mental health services to asylum seekers in all Australian-run detention centres from 2011 to mid-2014. In this capacity he was employed by International Health Management Services (IHMS), a company contracted to the federal government.</p>
<p>In 2014, giving evidence to an Australian Human Rights Commission inquiry into children in detention, Young said that the Immigration Department had been told several weeks earlier about the prevalence of mental health problems among child detainees. He told the inquiry that the department had ordered the figures be removed from a report.</p>
<p>Now it emerges that he has been a target of an Australian Federal Police investigation.</p>
<p>The Guardian Australia <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2016/may/24/australian-police-accessed-phone-records-of-asylum-whistleblower">reported on May 24</a> that the Australian Federal Police (AFP) had compiled hundreds of pages of file notes and reports on Young, including documents that showed his phone records had been investigated.</p>
<p>The newspaper reported that the Department of Immigration had sought an investigation by the AFP after the publication in media reports of the medical records of Hamid Khazaei, an asylum seeker detained on Manus Island. Khazaei died from septicaemia in September 2014, provoking strong criticism of the government’s asylum-seeker policies.</p>
<p>Young had subsequently requested access to files the AFP had compiled on him. According to the newspaper, the files stated that Young was a suspect in the investigation of the leaking of Khazaei’s records, because of “comments attributed to him being highly critical of [the Immigration Department] and IHMS in their handling of asylum seeker medical care” in two news reports.</p>
<p>However, the police examination of Young’s phone metadata revealed that he had had no contact with the media when the articles on Khazaei were published.</p>
<p>Young was quoted by The Guardian as saying that, in addition to accessing his metadata, the AFP had contacted his colleagues and questioned them about why they were speaking to him.</p>
<p>The third case also involves the AFP.</p>
<p>Last week, they made a fine election-time media spectacle of a raid on the home of a staffer for Labor’s communications spokesman, Jason Clare.</p>
<p>Television cameras and a scrimmage of media accompanied the officers to a home in Brunswick in Melbourne’s inner north. When the door opened a woman occupant was caught in a fusillade of flashbulbs.</p>
<p>On the same day, the AFP also raided the parliamentary office of the former Labor communications minister, Stephen Conroy, in the more restricted confines of the Commonwealth Offices in Treasury Place, East Melbourne.</p>
<p>This time the police were investigating the leaking of documents concerning cost blow-outs and other embarrassments surrounding the roll-out of the National Broadband Network (NBN).</p>
<p>Having the media along for the ride seemed designed to show how unpleasant the AFP can make life for people who dare to embarrass the government.</p>
<p>These episodes raise several questions:</p>
<ul>
<li><p>When big media start banging on about freedom of speech, whose speech are they clamouring to protect? Just their own or everyone else’s too?</p></li>
<li><p>How effective are Australia’s whistleblower laws in protecting people who speak out on matters of public interest, as Young did?</p></li>
<li><p>Is government embarrassment a sufficient reason to punish disclosure?</p></li>
<li><p>Does the AFP display an appropriate degree of operational independence?</p></li>
</ul>
<p>The force has a long history of going after whistleblowers, even when the subject matter has nothing to do with terrorism, national security or serious crime.</p>
<p>One of the more egregious examples occurred in 2004 when the AFP prosecuted a Commonwealth public servant – unsuccessfully, as it turned out – for allegedly disclosing material proving the Howard government was lying about the effects of changes to war veterans’ welfare entitlements.</p>
<p>The public servant was acquitted on appeal, but the proceedings ensnared the two Herald Sun reporters who <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/R_v_McManus_and_Harvey">wrote the story</a>. This ultimately resulted in them being convicted of contempt of court for refusing to disclose the identity of their confidential source.</p>
<p>The law that enables the AFP to embark on these oppressive operations is a catch-all secrecy provision, Section 70 of the Commonwealth Crimes Act. Like its contemporary successors, including the Anti-Terrorism Act (No 2) 2005, and the National Security Legislation Amendment Act (No 1) 2014, Section 70 contains no public-interest defence with which whistleblowers and journalists might defend themselves in the event of prosecution.</p>
<p>All this suits both sides of politics, so we are not likely to hear anything about it from the campaigning politicians. But three obvious remedies suggest themselves: putting a public-interest defence in the various laws, making the whistleblower laws more effective, and changing the craven culture of the AFP.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/60190/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
None of the politicians are talking about it, but threats to freedom of speech have emerged in three different guises in the first three weeks of the election campaign. First there was the assailing of…Denis Muller, Senior Research Fellow in the Centre for Advancing Journalism, The University of MelbourneLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/312962014-09-19T09:53:58Z2014-09-19T09:53:58ZParliament ramps up security, only months after scaling it back<p>Liberal senator Bill Heffernan has had the last laugh on the serious question of security at Australia’s Parliament.</p>
<p>Earlier this year, security was slackened in a bid <a href="http://www.sbs.com.au/news/article/2014/05/26/heffernan-has-point-security-police">to save A$400,000</a>. MPs’ staff and departmental officials were allowed to go into the building without being scanned.</p>
<p>Heffernan was outraged as what he saw at the laxity of the new arrangements and arrived at an estimates hearing in May with a piece of pipe and other paraphernalia to demonstrate you could get a bomb into the place.</p>
<p>Not long after, the old system of everybody being scanned returned.</p>
<p>Now Tony Abbott says that this month he was advised of “chatter” among terrorist networks about a potential attack on “government people and Parliament House has been specifically mentioned”. He had commissioned an urgent review and in future the Australian Federal Police – previously just in charge of security around the outside of the building – will have responsibility for inside too.</p>
<p>“There will be armed Australian Federal Police present in and around our national parliament at all times”, he said on Friday.</p>
<p>Maybe the “chatter” changes everything but it’s passing strange that Parliament House’s internal security could, within months, have gone from ripe for cuts, to requiring police with guns.</p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/VFMYrUoIRLs?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">ABC News.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<p>In the wake of Thursday’s dawn raids, which led to one man being charged with a terrorism-related offence, the government is “megaphoning” two messages about the threat within Australia.</p>
<p>It’s stressing the seriousness of the situation. A terrorist attack nearly happened, it’s saying. But it’s also urging that the best thing is for people to go about their business in the usual way. </p>
<p>The link it seeks to put between these two messages is: don’t worry, the government and the security agencies are looking after you.</p>
<p>Abbott is also emphasising that the raids and other anti-terrorism activity are not about “any particular religion or community”, but about combatting criminality. </p>
<p>At one level that’s obvious. But inevitably, the focus comes onto the Muslim community because that’s where the alleged extremists have come from.</p>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/59530/original/s624btx5-1411104275.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/59530/original/s624btx5-1411104275.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/59530/original/s624btx5-1411104275.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/59530/original/s624btx5-1411104275.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/59530/original/s624btx5-1411104275.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/59530/original/s624btx5-1411104275.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/59530/original/s624btx5-1411104275.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/59530/original/s624btx5-1411104275.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Queensland Police Commissioner Ian Stewart at Logan Mosque’s open day event this afternoon, held to bring Muslim and non-Muslim Australians together.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">@KathLanders/Twitter</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>This situation is going to take sensitive and skilled management. Preventing the growth of anti-Muslim feeling – the kind that saw vandals spray-paint “Evil” <a href="http://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/queensland/evil-painted-on-queensland-mosque-20140919-10jhfm.html#ixzz3DkkKnEb9">on a well-established far north Queensland mosque</a> on Thursday night – will be a challenge. Apart from that, some Muslims may feel uncomfortable in the spotlight, for example if they come under strong pressure to do or say things publicly.</p>
<p>Richard Ackland, <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2014/sep/19/sydney-dawn-counter-terrorism-raids-why-now-and-why-so-few-answers">writing in the Guardian</a>, believes: “This will be a real test to see that Australia’s peaceful multicultural cohesion is not hijacked.”</p>
<p>What’s hard to judge from the limited knowledge we have is whether the government and the authorities are applying proportionality in their actions.</p>
<p>More than 800 police and security officers were deployed in the raids, in what the police describe as a “show of force” on a scale not seen before.</p>
<p>Abbott declared that “the challenges that we face are more serious today than at any time in the past”.</p>
<p>That may indeed be true. But when he went on to say that “it is a serious situation when all you need to do to carry out a terrorist attack is to have a knife, an iPhone and a victim,” we should remember that sort of attack could have always been perpetrated (minus the phone). It’s the horrific images that we’ve seen of beheadings that make the threat of a knife attack so galvanising, and what’s also new and alarming is people talking about such attacks on our own streets.</p>
<p>A security alert often means that the priority a government gives to people’s rights – including the public’s right to know - becomes lower. </p>
<p>When acting AFP commissioner Andrew Colvin, appearing at a news conference with Abbott and NSW premier Mike Baird on Friday, refused (citing legal constraints) to tell journalists how many people were still being detained, Abbott delivered a little homily:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>Winston Churchill used a famous phrase back in the 1926 general strike. He said: ‘I refuse to be impartial as between the fire brigade and the fire’. Now, you’re perfectly entitled to ask these questions but I think the vast majority of Australians are absolutely on the side, as they should be, of the police and the security services who are there to keep them safe</p>
</blockquote>
<p>This, however, is to set up a false dichotomy, which should not be substituted for a more precise discussion about what can and should be made public.</p>
<p>While Labor is keeping the security issue a strictly non-partisan affair, both sides of politics are looking to next week’s Newspoll for a read out of its political impact. </p>
<p>Parliament is still to grapple with some of the budget gridlock, but the government hopes and can expect the attention will be elsewhere: in New York, on Abbott’s attendance at Barack Obama’s United Nations Security Council meeting on foreign fighters and on the PM’s address to the General Assembly.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/31296/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
Liberal senator Bill Heffernan has had the last laugh on the serious question of security at Australia’s Parliament. Earlier this year, security was slackened in a bid to save A$400,000. MPs’ staff and…Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of CanberraLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/153772013-07-07T07:33:47Z2013-07-07T07:33:47ZFactCheck: are Interpol red notices often wrong?<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/27001/original/m4pq9yzf-1373182541.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Brendan O Connor</span> </figcaption></figure><blockquote>
<p><strong>“The Australian Federal Police takes [red notices] very seriously but knows it must examine the veracity or otherwise of those claims because quite often claims, even against Australian citizens who’ve had red notices out against them, have been found to be wrong.” - Then immigration minister Brendan O'Connor, June 17, <a href="http://www.theage.com.au/opinion/political-news/interpol-notices-often-wrong-minister-contradicts-afp-20130617-2oe86.html">interview with Fairfax Media.</a></strong></p>
</blockquote>
<p>O'Connor’s questioning of the Interpol warnings known as “red notices” came after the organisation charged with facilitating international police cooperation admitted it had <a href="http://www.abc.net.au/news/2013-06-14/interpol-drops-charges-against-asylum-seeker-sayed-abdel-lat/4753348">made a mistake.</a> Interpol had issued a red notice stating that asylum seeker Sayed Ahmed Abdellatif had been convicted in Egypt in 1999 of premeditated murder and possession of explosives. </p>
<p>Interpol withdrew those allegations, although Abdellatif still remains subject to a red notice on the lesser charges of his alleged membership of an illegal extremist group and of creating forged travel documents. He <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2013/jun/19/sayed-abdellatif-breaks-silence-detention">denies all the allegations</a>, saying any confession was a result of torture.</p>
<p>O'Connor’s remark that red notices were often wrong is at odds with the statement by the Australian Federal Police’s deputy commissioner, Peter Drennan, that police <a href="http://www.abc.net.au/am/content/2013/s3780569.htm">“rely heavily on the Interpol red notices”</a> and that he had never come across an inaccurate one before. </p>
<p>So how reliable are red notices? O'Connor’s claim is hard to prove definitively because credible figures about Interpol’s accuracy aren’t available. A spokeswoman for O'Connor’s office told The Conversation that the statement was based on confidential information he received while minister for Home Affairs. We’ll have to take his word for that, although his office was unable to provide examples of Australian citizens subject to red notices that later proved inaccurate.</p>
<p>What we do know is that countries are increasingly using red notices through Interpol - <a href="http://www.interpol.int/Member-countries/World">190 countries now participate</a> - to help locate “wanted” persons. In 2011, these international requests with the view to the arrest and extradition of targeted people rose to about 26,000 warnings (including all types of Interpol notices and requests) – in <a href="http://genevalunch.com/2012/01/20/number-of-criminals-sought-by-interpol-up-50-in-2011/">contrast to 16,000 in 2010</a>.</p>
<p>Non-governmental organisations (NGOs) such as <a href="http://www.fairtrials.net/">Fair Trials International</a> have questioned the effectiveness of Interpol as a crime-fighting organisation because of its <a href="http://www.fairtrials.net/interpol/">limited internal controls to tackle political abuses</a>. </p>
<p>The Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe has called for reforms. It highlighted a failure to <a href="http://euobserver.com/opinion/120228">detect and prevent politically-motivated misuse</a> and expressed “concern about the abuse of the red notice system by states whose judicial systems do not meet international standards”.</p>
<p>So O’Connor’s call to examine the “veracity or otherwise of those claims” is justifiable. We do know that red notice warnings are not always complete and have sometimes proved inaccurate. They are not legally binding and they are not always based on a court decision. Interpol’s acknowledgement that a person subject to a red notice deserves the presumption of innocence can be drowned out by political motivation and unreliable information.</p>
<p>Interpol’s credibility has also been dented because some of its members have poor human rights records and corrupt, undemocratic governments. Countries such as Belarus, Egypt, Libya, Saudi Arabia, Syria, Iran and Indonesia have all been accused of abusing the red notice networks for political purposes.</p>
<p>Russia, for example, <a href="http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/law-and-order/10073483/Is-Interpol-fighting-for-truth-and-justice-or-helping-the-villains.html">recently used a red notice</a> request to encourage the extradition of Petr Silaev, a young Russian activist, on the offence of “hooliganism” – the same vague charge used to punish and imprison the punk band Pussy Riot.</p>
<p>Despite Petr’s initial arrest and detention in Spain, Spanish authorities later dismissed Russia’s extradition request as a form of political harassment. Nonetheless, Petr remains confined to Spain and on Interpol’s databases.</p>
<p>WikiLeaks founder <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-11883567">Julian Assange</a>, an Australian, and anti-whaling activist <a href="http://www.interpol.int/News-and-media/News-media-releases/2012/N20120914">Paul Watson</a> have found themselves subject to controversial Interpol red notice. Their supporters claim the notices were politically motivated, although Sweden (in the case of Assange) and Japan (in the case of Watson) would argue they have been properly applied.</p>
<h2>Verdict</h2>
<p>Interpol red notices should never be taken at face value. There is evidence that they are sometimes politically motivated and some have proved inaccurate, but claiming they are “often wrong” is a stretch.</p>
<hr>
<h2>Review</h2>
<p>The check is correct. Out of the roughly 7,000 red notices issued every year, some are used for political purposes in contravention of Interpol’s own rules. There are a number of high profile cases which highlight this.</p>
<p>As an international organisation, Interpol generally accepts at face value the information submitted by its members. It is up to other nations to decide on the reliability of the information and to decide whether or not to action requests. </p>
<p>Australia exercises this discretion and any police action is testable in our courts in the first instance. Any request for extradition based on a red notice must go through the normal extradition process. But there is no evidence that overall the notices are “often wrong” and no Australian figures that would back up this claim. <strong>– Grant Wardlaw</strong></p>
<hr>
<p><div class="callout">The Conversation is fact checking political statements in the lead-up to this year’s federal election. Statements are checked by an academic with expertise in the area. A second academic expert reviews an anonymous copy of the article.Request a check at checkit@theconversation.edu.au. Please include the statement you would like us to check, the date it was made, and a link if possible.</div></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/15377/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>The authors do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>“The Australian Federal Police takes [red notices] very seriously but knows it must examine the veracity or otherwise of those claims because quite often claims, even against Australian citizens who’ve…Daniel Baldino, Senior Lecturer in Politics & International Relations, University of Notre Dame AustraliaLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.