tag:theconversation.com,2011:/us/topics/australias-security-state-77051/articlesAustralia's security state – The Conversation2019-10-15T04:32:11Ztag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1247762019-10-15T04:32:11Z2019-10-15T04:32:11ZAustralia is facing a looming cyber emergency, and we don’t have the high-tech workforce to counter it<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/296998/original/file-20191015-98666-161mvc3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=974%2C31%2C3274%2C2083&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Nick Warner, the new director general of the Office of National Intelligence, has sounded the alarm about Australia's lack of preparedness to counter cyber-threats.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Alan Porritt/AAP</span></span></figcaption></figure><p><em>This is part of a new series looking at the national security challenges facing Australia, how our leaders are responding to them and how these measures are impacting society. Read other stories in the series <a href="https://theconversation.com/au/topics/australias-security-state-77051">here</a>.</em></p>
<hr>
<p>Australia’s social scientists and the intelligence agencies have a <a href="https://www.assa.edu.au/publication/social-science-research-intelligence-in-australia/">new joint role</a> in protecting the country, but may need a more tech-savvy workforce to get there.</p>
<p>There are historical precedents for this kind of cooperation. In September 1939, just as war broke out in Europe, the <a href="https://www.iwm.org.uk/history/how-alan-turing-cracked-the-enigma-code">Cambridge University scholar Alan Turing arrived</a> at <a href="https://bletchleypark.org.uk/our-story">Bletchley Park</a> to take up a position helping the UK government break the German codes and cipher machines. </p>
<p>Australia’s current geopolitical situation is obviously not as dire. But we are facing the same institutional problem. The country has not been able to develop an intelligence workforce that can keep up with the speed of advancing technologies today and their intensifying threat to our national security.</p>
<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>New technological threats</h2>
<p>In 2012, Nick Warner, then-director general of the Australia Secret Intelligence Service (ASIS), <a href="https://www.itnews.com.au/news/spy-chief-intel-gathering-a-challenge-in-infosec-landscape-309224">first advocated the need for greater attention</a> to the threat posed by advanced cyber technologies. </p>
<p><div data-react-class="Tweet" data-react-props="{"tweetId":"225841914899992576"}"></div></p>
<p>Seven years later, as the new director-general of the Office of National Intelligence (ONI), Warner again <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2019-04-06/australia-spy-chief-nick-warner-biggest-threats-to-the-nation/10974214">publicly asserted</a> that accelerating technological change is </p>
<blockquote>
<p>not only changing the business of intelligence; it’s changing the entire world.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Warner specifically mentioned recent innovations in nanotechnology, quantum computing, synthetic biology and facial recognition technology as among the most critical for our intelligence agencies to better understand. </p>
<p>As it stands, there are gaping holes in our capability to grasp both the threats posed by these new technologies, as well as the opportunities for our intelligence agents to use them in their missions.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/the-ethics-of-securitising-australian-cyberspace-95523">The ethics of 'securitising' Australian cyberspace</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>On the threat side, one area where Australia and most other countries are weak is the need to have advanced, 24-hour monitoring and immediate remediation of cyber-intrusions for nationally connected systems. </p>
<p>This can only be done through the development of artificial intelligence applications unique to the country, its cyber-infrastructure, and the threat profile of potential adversaries. An algorithm for Australia’s system, for instance, will not work for the United States. </p>
<p>But how many Australians are qualified in this area? This shortfall in the number of candidates with high-tech qualifications to help remake our intelligence workforce is probably the main reason why leaders like Warner are going public with their concerns.</p>
<h2>Enter the scholars</h2>
<p>Around the time Warner made his speech this April, the Office of National Intelligence (ONI) asked the Academy of Social Sciences in Australia (ASSA) to advise it on how scholars could assist the agencies in doing their job better, including in the area of addressing new, advanced technologies.</p>
<p>ONI was following the lead of the chief intelligence agency in the United States, the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ONDI), which had asked the <a href="http://www.nationalacademies.org/">US National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine</a> to do the same thing. </p>
<p>Their <a href="https://www.nap.edu/catalog/25335/a-decadal-survey-of-the-social-and-behavioral-sciences-a">report was released in March 2019</a> after two years of work, 100 working papers and a cost of A$15 million. </p>
<p>The American scholars’ report revealed how the richest, most technologically advanced country in the world was struggling to maintain confidence in its intelligence capabilities at a time of emerging, often invisible or untraceable threats in cyberspace.</p>
<p>The most surprising conclusion of the American scholars was that the solutions would be found in areas of social policy and workforce development. </p>
<p>The report gave prominence to the emerging concept of <a href="http://www.casos.cs.cmu.edu/projects/projects/social_cyber_security.php">social cyber-security</a>. The focus, they said, had to be in forecasting the changes in human behaviour that have been caused by new cyber-technologies. </p>
<p><div data-react-class="Tweet" data-react-props="{"tweetId":"1177104015517257728"}"></div></p>
<h2>Developing a future high-tech workforce</h2>
<p>Building off the US report, the Australian scholars’ most important recommendation was that our country needs a strategic plan for workforce development in the intelligence community that can deal with emerging cyber-threats. </p>
<p>They want to see a commitment to developing a bigger pipeline of more diverse and capable intelligence analysts, schooled as deeply in the social and political aspects of cyber-space as in the technical dimensions. </p>
<p>As I argued in a <a href="https://www.unsw.adfa.edu.au/unsw-canberra-cyber/sites/accs/files/pdf/Briefing-Paper-2-Human-Capital-for-Cyber-Security-Web_0.pdf">2017 discussion paper on this topic</a> – and as many others have also argued – Australia is not even close to a national workforce plan for a high-tech future. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/australias-quest-for-national-security-is-undermining-the-courts-and-could-lead-to-secretive-trials-122638">Australia's quest for national security is undermining the courts and could lead to secretive trials</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>The Coalition government, like the opposition, is happy to leave the universities to set the pace in terms of educating a future high-tech workforce. Only token amounts of money have been invested in new cyber-education programs by the government. That investment has come without any corresponding strategy at the federal level.</p>
<p>In spite of some small successes, the universities are not delivering. We need to know why. Are traditional universities even the appropriate venue for advanced cyber-social research and education?</p>
<p>We certainly need a greater sense of urgency. In May, <a href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/executive-order-securing-information-communications-technology-services-supply-chain/">the US declared a national “cyber emergency”</a>, the third time it’s done so in the past four years. At the same time, it released a <a href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/executive-order-americas-cybersecurity-workforce/">new cyber workforce strategy</a> as a primary plank of its emergency response plan. </p>
<p>Australia should adopt this urgency to create a new workforce capable of countering the high-tech threats of the future.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/124776/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Greg Austin received funding from the Academy of Social Sciences in Australia to draft an initial briefing report for the project referred to in this article, </span></em></p>We have not been able to develop an intelligence workforce that can keep up with the speed of advancing technologies and their threat to our national security.Greg Austin, Professor UNSW Canberra Cyber, UNSW SydneyLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1232642019-10-07T19:13:36Z2019-10-07T19:13:36ZClimate change poses a ‘direct threat’ to Australia’s national security. It must be a political priority<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/295742/original/file-20191007-121075-1ho1vl9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Climate change is expected to increase the severity of natural disasters in the Asia-Pacific region, straining Australia's ability to respond through humanitarian missions and fuelling more climate migration.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Vlad Sokhin/UNICEF handout</span></span></figcaption></figure><p><em>This is part of a new series looking at the national security challenges facing Australia, how our leaders are responding to them through legislation and how these measures are impacting society. Read the rest of the series <a href="https://theconversation.com/au/topics/australias-security-state-77051">here</a>.</em></p>
<hr>
<p>It is evident from Australia’s increasingly severe droughts and record-breaking heatwaves that time is running out to take action on climate change. </p>
<p>Yet, despite persistent calls from eminent scientists to reduce global dependence on fossil fuels, a call to action has gone unanswered by our political leaders. </p>
<p>And we aren’t just facing an environmental threat alone in Australia – there are significant implications for our national security and defence capabilities that we haven’t fully reckoned with either.</p>
<p>This point was made abundantly clear in a <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2019-09-25/australian-defence-force-angus-campbell-climate-change-speech/11543464">speech prepared for Defence Force Chief Angus Campbell</a> at an event in June, excerpts of which have been recently <a href="https://www.afr.com/policy/foreign-affairs/defence-chief-sounds-climate-warning-20190712-p526sl">published by the media</a>. It noted that Australia is in</p>
<blockquote>
<p>the most natural disaster-prone region in the world … [and] climate change is predicted to make disasters more extreme and more common.</p>
<p>If the predictions are correct, [climate change] will have serious ramifications for global security and serious ramifications for the ADF [Australian Defence Force].</p>
</blockquote>
<p><div data-react-class="Tweet" data-react-props="{"tweetId":"1150532267233517568"}"></div></p>
<h2>What kinds of security risks do we face?</h2>
<p>Climate change works as a threat multiplier – it exacerbates the drivers of conflict by deepening existing fragilities within societies, straining weak institutions, reshaping power balances and undermining post-conflict recovery and peacebuilding.</p>
<p>This year’s <a href="https://www.iiss.org/publications/armed-conflict-survey">IISS Armed Conflict Survey</a> noted how </p>
<blockquote>
<p>climate-related drivers for armed violence and conflict will increase as climate change progresses. </p>
</blockquote>
<p>The survey points out that the 2011 uprising against Syrian President Bashar al-Assad that escalated into civil war was preceded by the country’s deepest and most prolonged drought on record. <a href="https://www.pnas.org/content/112/11/3241">One study has found</a> the drought was two to three times more likely to happen due to climate change, and that it helped fuel migration to large cities, which in turn exacerbated the social issues that caused the unrest.</p>
<p>In May 2018, I was among numerous experts <a href="https://www.sbs.com.au/news/exclusive-climate-change-warning-for-australia-s-military">who provided evidence</a> to a <a href="https://www.aph.gov.au/Parliamentary_Business/Committees/Senate/Foreign_Affairs_Defence_and_Trade/Nationalsecurity/Final%20Report/c02">Senate committee</a> examining the potential impacts of climate change on Australia’s national security.</p>
<h2>Increased climate migration and disasters</h2>
<p>One of the biggest threats I identified was the possibility of mass migration driven by climate change. </p>
<p>There will be <a href="https://population.un.org/wpp/Publications/Files/WPP2019_Highlights.pdf">nearly 6 billion people in the Asia-Pacific region by 2050</a>. And if the region has become increasingly destabilised due to climate change, many people will likely be affected by rising sea levels, water and food shortages, armed conflicts and natural disasters, and desperate to find more secure homes. </p>
<p>This is already happening now. Since 2008, it’s estimated that an average of <a href="https://nanseninitiative.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/02/PROTECTION-AGENDA-VOLUME-1.pdf">22.5 million</a> to <a href="https://www.npr.org/sections/goatsandsoda/2018/06/20/621782275/the-refugees-that-the-world-barely-pays-attention-to">24 million</a> people have been displaced globally each year due to catastrophic weather events and climate-related disasters. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/us-military-strategists-warn-that-climate-is-a-catalyst-for-conflict-26744">US military strategists warn that climate is a 'catalyst for conflict'
</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>And a <a href="https://www.worldbank.org/en/news/feature/2018/03/19/meet-the-human-faces-of-climate-migration">new World Bank report</a> estimates that 143 million people in three developing regions alone – sub-Saharan Africa, South Asia and Latin America – could become climate migrants by 2050. </p>
<blockquote>
<p>They will migrate from less viable areas with lower water availability and crop
productivity and from areas affected by rising sea level and storm surges. The poorest and most climate-vulnerable areas will be hardest hit. </p>
</blockquote>
<p>Australia, with its very low population density, will likely be an attractive place for climate migrants to attempt to resettle. The World Bank <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2017/may/08/australia-and-nz-should-allow-open-migration-for-pacific-islanders-threatened-by-climate-says-report">has called on Australia</a> to allow open migration from climate-affected Pacific islands, but successive governments <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2019/jul/16/australias-orwellian-anti-refugee-system-hints-at-whats-to-come-for-climate-refugees">haven’t exactly been open to refugees and asylum seekers</a> in recent years.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/refuge-city-a-new-kind-of-city-for-our-times-106992">Refuge City, a new kind of city for our times</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>If we don’t have a plan in place, <a href="https://www.afr.com/politics/federal/why-australia-needs-to-get-real-on-population-growth-20131130-ij9ym">our estimated 2050 population of 37.6 million</a> could be overwhelmed by the scale of the national security problem.</p>
<p>Other experts agreed. American climate security expert <a href="https://www.wilsoncenter.org/person/sherri-goodman">Sherri Goodman</a> described climate change as a “direct threat to the national security of Australia”, saying the region is</p>
<blockquote>
<p>most likely to see increasing waves of migration from small island states or storm-affected, highly populated areas in Asia that can’t accommodate people when a very strong storm hits.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Australia would also struggle to respond to worsening natural disasters in our region either caused by or exacerbated by climate change. </p>
<p>As part of the Senate inquiry, the Department of Defence noted an “upwards trend” in both disaster-related events in the Asia-Pacific region and disaster-related defence operations in the past 20 years. </p>
<p>As <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2019-09-25/australian-defence-force-angus-campbell-climate-change-speech/11543464">alluded to in the speech</a> prepared for Campbell in June, we could easily find ourselves overwhelmed by disaster relief missions
due to the severity and scale of future weather events, or due to a series of events that occur concurrently in dispersed locations. </p>
<p>This would stretch our available first responder forces – defence, police, ambulance, firefighters and other emergency services – even in the absence of any other higher priority peacekeeping missions around the world. </p>
<h2>Recommendations for a way forward</h2>
<p>The <a href="https://www.aph.gov.au/Parliamentary_Business/Committees/Senate/Foreign_Affairs_Defence_and_Trade/Nationalsecurity/Final%20Report/c06">Senate report listed 11 recommendations</a> for action by national security agencies and the government. </p>
<p>Among these were calls for:</p>
<ul>
<li><p>the government to develop a climate security white paper to guide a coordinated government response to climate change risks</p></li>
<li><p>the Department of Defence to consider releasing an unclassified version of the work it has undertaken already to identify climate risks to the country</p></li>
<li><p>the government to consider a dedicated climate security leadership position in Home Affairs to coordinate climate resilience issues</p></li>
<li><p>and the Department of Defence to create a dedicated senior leadership position to oversee the delivery of domestic and international humanitarian assistance and disaster relief as climate pressures increase over time. </p></li>
</ul>
<p>Some of these findings were contested. In their comments, the Coalition senators made a point of saying how well the government has been doing on climate change in the defence and foreign affairs portfolios. Sufficient strategies are in place</p>
<blockquote>
<p>to ensure Australia’s response to the implications of climate change on national security is well understood and consistent across the whole of government.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>They also considered that a separate recommendation on defence emissions reduction targets fell outside the spirit of the inquiry. They did not support it.</p>
<h2>A lack of urgency and response</h2>
<p>The findings in the report are a cause for concern. The recommendations lack timetables for action and a sense of urgency. </p>
<p>The Senate committee also admitted its own shortcomings. For instance, it couldn’t adequately examine the potential impacts of climate change on Australia’s economy, infrastructure and community health and well-being due to a lack of substantial evidence on these issues.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/senate-report-climate-change-is-a-clear-and-present-danger-to-australias-security-96797">Senate report: climate change is a clear and present danger to Australia's security</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>Furthermore, and most worryingly, it seems the government just doesn’t care enough. It has yet to table a response to the report more than a year later. </p>
<p>A welcome development would be if the government announced a climate change security white paper that clearly spells out where ministers stand on the issue and the specific measures we need to take to prepare for the threats ahead. It would also dispel the concerns of many Australians about our future readiness. </p>
<p>But the Coalition’s response to the Senate report is breathtakingly complacent and smacks of reckless negligence since Australia is on the front line when it comes to climate change and our national security faces undeniably serious risks.</p>
<p>Climate change is already presenting significant challenges to governance, our institutions and the fabric of our societies. It’s time we recognise the potential threats to security in our region, as well.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/123264/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Chris Barrie is affiliated with the Global Military Advisory Council on Climate Change</span></em></p>A Senate report recommended several measures the government should take to prepare for climate-fuelled migration, natural disasters and conflicts. The response so far has been underwhelming.Chris Barrie, Honorary Professor, Strategic and Defence Studies Centre, Australian National UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1227172019-10-02T20:04:38Z2019-10-02T20:04:38ZAustralia isn’t taking the national security threat from far-right extremism seriously enough<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/295168/original/file-20191002-101512-qyece5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=934%2C0%2C4742%2C3035&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">The Christchurch attack is a clear signal we need to change our approach to both hateful extremism and toxic political discourse in Australia.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">David Alexander/AAP</span></span></figcaption></figure><p><em>This is part of a new series looking at the national security challenges facing Australia, how our leaders are responding to them through legislation and how these measures are impacting society. Read the rest of the series <a href="https://theconversation.com/au/topics/australias-security-state-77051">here</a>.</em></p>
<hr>
<p>Until the <a href="https://theconversation.com/nz/topics/christchurch-terror-attack-68330">terror attack in Christchurch</a> in March, the threat of far-right terrorism in Australia was one we knew was coming, but believed was well over the horizon. </p>
<p>The sordid story of the Christchurch attacker – “ordinary Australian” turned hateful bigot turned mass-murdering terrorist – contains some uncomfortable truths for our country, not least of which is the fact that the threat of far-right extremism has arrived in the here and now. </p>
<p>Just as troubling, yet even more challenging because it is so insidious, are the clear links between the Christchurch shooter’s motivations and our mainstream political discourse. Facing up to this threat requires us changing our approach both to hateful extremism and toxic political discourse.</p>
<p>Police and counter-terrorism officials have long been warning us of the rising threat of far-right violent extremism. Over the past decade, this has emerged as the <a href="https://www.adl.org/news/press-releases/right-wing-extremism-linked-to-every-2018-extremist-murder-in-the-us-adl-finds">number one terrorist threat in America</a> and a <a href="https://csis-prod.s3.amazonaws.com/s3fs-public/publication/181119_RightWingTerrorism_layout_FINAL.pdf">persistent</a> and <a href="https://time.com/5681199/uk-far-right-terrorism/">growing threat</a> in Europe.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/christchurch-attacks-are-a-stark-warning-of-toxic-political-environment-that-allows-hate-to-flourish-113662">Christchurch attacks are a stark warning of toxic political environment that allows hate to flourish</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>It’s tempting to say that had more resources been committed to tracking and monitoring far-right groups and individuals in Australia, the Christchurch terrorist perhaps could have been stopped. </p>
<p>But even in hindsight, things are not so clear. The Christchurch gunman was a lone actor with no previous history of significant violence, although his <a href="https://www.theaustralian.com.au/inquirer/the-killer-within-brenton-tarrants-online-fantasy-reallife-horror/news-story/295609c73561cb9e8f6a2a31cc66015b">involvement in hateful extremism</a> was well-known to family and friends.</p>
<p>This is the particular threat that keeps counter-terrorism experts awake at night, when so-called “<a href="http://content.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1609777,00.html">cleanskins</a>” (people with ostensibly spotless records) turn into lone-actor terrorists.</p>
<h2>We are flying blind on far-right extremism</h2>
<p>One clear lesson from Christchurch is that we need to pay more attention to hate speech and hate crimes. </p>
<p>It is true that “<a href="https://www.smh.com.au/national/inside-the-shit-posting-subculture-the-christchurch-shooter-belonged-to-20190317-p514xt.html">shit-posting</a>” is a common occurrence on social media, and among all those people spouting off, it is extremely difficult to see who might become a violent extremist. </p>
<p>But clearly, we don’t understand the world of far-right extremism nearly as well as we should. We need a better way of monitoring and tracking far-right forums, social networks and the links between far-right individuals through their histories of travel and extremist communications. </p>
<p>We also have <a href="https://www.sbs.com.au/language/english/australia-has-no-national-hate-crime-database-but-here-s-how-to-build-one">no centralised, national database of hate incidents</a>. Hate crimes remain under-reported, poorly documented and de-prioritised to low levels of state policing. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/right-wing-extremism-has-a-long-history-in-australia-113842">Right-wing extremism has a long history in Australia</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>The result is that we are flying blind. We don’t get to see the patterns between far-right groups and internet “shit-posters” because we are not collecting the data. </p>
<p>If we made it a priority at the state and federal level to document hate incidents, whether crimes or not, we would at least have a sense of when and where the problem is growing and who is most significantly involved.</p>
<p>This wouldn’t eliminate the threat of far-right extremism, but it might help stop the next massacre and it would certainly contribute to making Australian society more healthy, welcoming and just.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/295171/original/file-20191002-101512-7tnpq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/295171/original/file-20191002-101512-7tnpq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=486&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/295171/original/file-20191002-101512-7tnpq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=486&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/295171/original/file-20191002-101512-7tnpq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=486&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/295171/original/file-20191002-101512-7tnpq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=610&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/295171/original/file-20191002-101512-7tnpq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=610&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/295171/original/file-20191002-101512-7tnpq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=610&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Anti-immigrant protesters at a Reclaim Australia rally in Sydney in 2015.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">David Moir/AAP</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>A disproportionate focus on Islamist terror threats</h2>
<p>The September 11 attacks in America, and subsequent attacks by al-Qaeda in Bali, Madrid, London and elsewhere, triggered an enormous investment in counter-terrorism efforts in Australia. </p>
<p>This had barely begun to abate when the formation of the Islamic State (IS) caliphate in mid-2014 alerted us to the high rates of terror recruitment in Australia and prompted the <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2014-09-12/australia-increases-terrorism-threat-level/5739466">raising of the national terrorism alert</a> to the penultimate level in September 2014. </p>
<p>An intercepted phone call then triggered Australia’s <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com.au/suspects-in-terror-raids-planned-random-acts-against-members-of-the-public-2014-9">largest-ever counter-terrorism operation</a>. Shortly afterward, the Islamic State issued a call for random lone-actor attacks around the world and, within days, an 18-year-old launched a <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2017/jul/31/numan-haider-inquest-finds-police-had-no-choice-but-to-shoot-radicalised-teenager">knife attack against two police officers in Melbourne</a>. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/australia-has-enacted-82-anti-terror-laws-since-2001-but-tough-laws-alone-cant-eliminate-terrorism-123521">Australia has enacted 82 anti-terror laws since 2001. But tough laws alone can't eliminate terrorism</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>These circumstances have led to <a href="https://theconversation.com/australia-has-enacted-82-anti-terror-laws-since-2001-but-tough-laws-alone-cant-eliminate-terrorism-123521">82 counter-terrorism laws being enacted in Australia</a> since 2001, and <a href="https://www.aph.gov.au/About_Parliament/Parliamentary_Departments/Parliamentary_Library/pubs/BriefingBook45p/ViolentExtremism">16 counter-terrorism operations since 2014</a>, almost all of which have been responding to the threat posed by violent Islamist groups like al-Qaeda and IS. </p>
<p>This perception of the increased threat posed by these groups has resulted in a disproportionate investment in counter-terrorism compared with <a href="https://www.smh.com.au/lifestyle/life-and-relationships/terrorism-is-rare-but-intimate-partner-violence-is-an-everyday-event-20190208-p50wki.html">the response to the much greater threat posed by domestic violence</a>. </p>
<p>At the same time, however, very little has been invested in preventative counter-terrorism measures, including countering far-right extremism. </p>
<h2>A national discourse bound up in fear</h2>
<p>We pride ourselves on being <a href="https://www.homeaffairs.gov.au/mca/Statements/english-multicultural-statement.pdf">the world’s most successful multicultural society</a>, yet we consistently turn a deaf ear to those who come up against hatred. </p>
<p>Just last month, for example, a <a href="https://www.smh.com.au/business/workplace/eight-out-of-10-asian-australians-experience-discrimination-survey-20190920-p52tfp.html">new national survey</a> found that 82% of Asian Australians, 81% of Australians of Middle Eastern background and 71% of Indigenous Australians had experienced some form of discrimination.</p>
<p>One reason why we are not yet ready to face up to this problem is that our national political discourse has for decades become bound up with the politics of fear, “othering”, and scapegoating minority communities. </p>
<p>When we demonise “illegal arrivals” and give license to the toxic rhetoric that we are being “swamped by Asians”, as <a href="https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/pauline-hansons-1996-maiden-speech-to-parliament-full-transcript-20160915-grgjv3.html">Pauline Hanson put it in the late 1990s</a>, or more recently “<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/video/2016/sep/14/pauline-hanson-australia-in-danger-of-being-swamped-by-muslims-video">flooded by Muslims</a>”, then we are buying into the core element of the narrative of terrorists like the Christchurch gunman.</p>
<p>In his manifesto, the gunman referenced the far-right extremist trope of “<a href="https://www.gq.com/story/white-replacement-conspiracy-theory">the great replacement</a>” –
the fear that white Christian society is being overrun by brown-skinned, non-Christian people who are changing its culture and society irrevocably. </p>
<p>He picked up this idea from parts of Europe where there is strong antagonism to migrants and Muslims. But he referenced it directly from the writings of the <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2019/04/03/world/white-extremist-terrorism-christchurch.html">Norwegian far-right terrorist</a> who shot dead 69 people and blew up another eight in July 2011. </p>
<p>This same argument featured in the manifesto of the <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2019/08/22/us/walmart-el-paso.html">El Paso gunman</a> who murdered 22 people at a Walmart store in Texas last month. In it, he <a href="https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/juliareinstein/people-killed-shooting-el-paso-wal-mart-custody">praised the Christchurch shooter</a> and warned of a “<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2019/aug/05/great-replacement-theory-alt-right-killers-el-paso">Hispanic invasion</a>” of Texas.</p>
<p>These alt-right terrorists are driven in part <a href="https://theconversation.com/christchurch-attacks-are-a-stark-warning-of-toxic-political-environment-that-allows-hate-to-flourish-113662">by a fantasy</a> of going from “zero to hero” in the alt-right internet world and becoming renowned as “warrior defenders”. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/295173/original/file-20191002-101499-1cywn4y.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/295173/original/file-20191002-101499-1cywn4y.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=332&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/295173/original/file-20191002-101499-1cywn4y.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=332&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/295173/original/file-20191002-101499-1cywn4y.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=332&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/295173/original/file-20191002-101499-1cywn4y.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=417&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/295173/original/file-20191002-101499-1cywn4y.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=417&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/295173/original/file-20191002-101499-1cywn4y.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=417&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">White nationalist manifestos are a recurring feature of far-right extremist attacks, like the one in El Paso this year.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Larry W. Smith/EPA</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Prioritising far-right extremism</h2>
<p>Prior to Christchurch, kicking the can down the road and prioritising other threats to our national security seemed an understandable, if not ideal response. </p>
<p>We now need to face the reality that of 50 terrorism-related deaths in the US last year, <a href="https://www.adl.org/news/press-releases/right-wing-extremism-linked-to-every-2018-extremist-murder-in-the-us-adl-finds">almost all involved far-right extremism</a>. (Only one was linked to jihadi terrorism.) This is a pattern that’s been established for decades now. In fact, <a href="https://www.adl.org/news/press-releases/right-wing-extremism-linked-to-every-2018-extremist-murder-in-the-us-adl-finds">nearly three-quarters of all terrorist deaths in the US</a> over the past decade have been linked to far-right extremism. </p>
<p>And while there is reason to hope the problem will never become quite so serious in Australia (despite the fact an Australian far-right extremist has murdered 51 people in another country), we need to do what we can now to counter the rise of hate speech and hate crimes – not later. </p>
<p>There are no quick fixes or guaranteed solutions, but these steps will make society better in ways that go far beyond the immediate threat of another terrorist attack.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/122717/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Greg Barton is engaged in a range of projects working to understand and counter violent extremism in Australia and in Southeast Asia that are funded by the Australian government.</span></em></p>To understand the threat better, we need to devote more resources to monitoring and tracking far-right forums and social networks and a national database tracking hate crimes.Greg Barton, Chair in Global Islamic Politics, Alfred Deakin Institute for Citizenship and Globalisation, Deakin UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1226382019-10-02T01:01:09Z2019-10-02T01:01:09ZAustralia’s quest for national security is undermining the courts and could lead to secretive trials<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/294937/original/file-20191001-173402-1m9wqs3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=1025%2C616%2C4534%2C3084&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Bernard Collaery's whistleblower trial will be a key test of the National Security Information Act and the restrictions it places on defendants and the courts.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Lukas Coch/AAP</span></span></figcaption></figure><p><em>This is part of a new series looking at the national security challenges facing Australia, how our leaders are responding to them through legislation and how these measures are impacting society. Read other stories in the series <a href="https://theconversation.com/au/topics/australias-security-state-77051">here</a>.</em></p>
<hr>
<p>In August, the intelligence officer known as Witness K indicated he would plead guilty to a conspiracy charge under section 39 of the <a href="http://classic.austlii.edu.au/au/legis/cth/consol_act/isa2001216/s39.html">Intelligence Services Act</a>. That section prohibits the disclosure of information acquired or prepared by the Australian Secret Intelligence Service (ASIS). </p>
<p>His lawyer, Bernard Collaery, will <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2019-08-06/witness-k-to-plead-guilty-lawyer-bernard-collaery-face-trial/11387046">contest the same charge</a> in the ACT Supreme Court. </p>
<p>Concerns have been raised about the use of the <a href="http://www8.austlii.edu.au/cgi-bin/viewdb/au/legis/cth/consol_act/nsiacpa2004575/">National Security Information Act</a> (NSIA) in the Collaery trial. Anthony Whealy, a former judge who presided over several of Australia’s recent terrorism trials, <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2019-08-26/xanana-gusmao-offers-to-give-evidence-in-witness-k-trial/11436286">said</a> </p>
<blockquote>
<p>This could be one of the most secretive trials in Australian history.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Both cases will be back in court this month. A <a href="https://www.canberratimes.com.au/story/6406973/east-timor-bugging-cases-return-to-court/?cs=14329">hearing is also scheduled</a> to consider how national security information will be dealt with in the Collaery trial.</p>
<p>There has been significant media discussion around the <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2019/aug/10/witness-k-and-the-outrageous-spy-scandal-that-failed-to-shame-australia">ASIS bugging</a> that Witness K and Bernard Collaery exposed, but less about the NSIA. </p>
<p>So what is the National Security Information Act? Why was it introduced and how could it lead to secretive trials?</p>
<h2>Having its cake and eating it, too</h2>
<p>The purpose of the NSIA is to protect national security information while allowing it to be used in Australian courtrooms. It applies in federal court proceedings, both civil and criminal. </p>
<p><a href="http://www8.austlii.edu.au/cgi-bin/viewdoc/au/cases/act/ACTSC/2001/115.html">Before the NSIA</a>, prosecutors faced a difficult choice. They could prosecute someone for terrorism, national security or secrecy offences and risk having sensitive information disclosed publicly, or they could keep the information secret and possibly have the prosecution fail.</p>
<p>The act was introduced in 2004 <a href="https://theconversation.com/australia-has-enacted-82-anti-terror-laws-since-2001-but-tough-laws-alone-wont-make-us-safer-123521">as part of Australia’s vast suite of counter-terrorism laws</a>, designed specifically to help prosecutors convict people for terrorism offences. </p>
<p>Now, the government can have its cake and eat it too: it no longer needs to choose between protecting sensitive information and prosecuting someone for disclosing it.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/australia-has-enacted-82-anti-terror-laws-since-2001-but-tough-laws-alone-cant-eliminate-terrorism-123521">Australia has enacted 82 anti-terror laws since 2001. But tough laws alone can't eliminate terrorism</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>What does the NSIA do?</h2>
<p>The NSIA creates special procedures by which national security information can be protected while still being used as evidence. </p>
<p><a href="http://www8.austlii.edu.au/cgi-bin/viewdoc/au/legis/cth/consol_act/nsiacpa2004575/s8.html">National security information</a> is defined broadly under the act as any information relating to </p>
<blockquote>
<p>Australia’s defence, security, international relations or law enforcement interests.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>There are two circumstances in which the NSIA procedures can be triggered. The first is <a href="http://www8.austlii.edu.au/cgi-bin/viewdoc/au/legis/cth/consol_act/nsiacpa2004575/s24.html">when the parties know in advance</a> they are likely to reveal national security information during the trial. The parties must notify the attorney-general of this, or face <a href="http://www8.austlii.edu.au/cgi-bin/viewdoc/au/legis/cth/consol_act/nsiacpa2004575/s42.html">two years in prison</a>.</p>
<p>The second set of circumstances relates to when <a href="http://www8.austlii.edu.au/cgi-bin/viewdoc/au/legis/cth/consol_act/nsiacpa2004575/s25.html">a witness is being questioned</a> on the stand and an answer has the potential to reveal national security information. If a lawyer or the defendant knows this could happen, he or she must stop the witness from answering and notify the court, or the same penalty applies.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/why-an-australian-charter-of-rights-is-a-matter-of-national-urgency-121411">Why an Australian charter of rights is a matter of national urgency</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>In either of these circumstances, the attorney-general can issue a <a href="http://www8.austlii.edu.au/cgi-bin/viewdoc/au/legis/cth/consol_act/nsiacpa2004575/s26.html">non-disclosure certificate</a> that prohibits the information from being revealed or allows it to be revealed in summary or redacted form. The court then holds a <a href="http://www8.austlii.edu.au/cgi-bin/viewdoc/au/legis/cth/consol_act/nsiacpa2004575/s29.html">closed hearing</a> in which the judge will determine whether and how the information may be used.</p>
<p>In a closed hearing, not only are journalists and members of the public barred from attending, but also the jury. The judge may even <a href="http://www8.austlii.edu.au/cgi-bin/viewdoc/au/legis/cth/consol_act/nsiacpa2004575/s29.html">exclude the defendant</a>, the defendant’s lawyer or a court official if revealing the information to them would be likely to compromise national security.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/295135/original/file-20191002-173347-1mz9dqz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/295135/original/file-20191002-173347-1mz9dqz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/295135/original/file-20191002-173347-1mz9dqz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/295135/original/file-20191002-173347-1mz9dqz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/295135/original/file-20191002-173347-1mz9dqz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/295135/original/file-20191002-173347-1mz9dqz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/295135/original/file-20191002-173347-1mz9dqz.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">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Supporters of Bernard Collaery and Witness K protesting outside Supreme Court in Canberra in August.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Lukas Coch/AAP</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Withholding information from defendants</h2>
<p>That the legislation permits closed hearings is not necessarily the main issue, though this certainly undermines the principles of <a href="https://www.alrc.gov.au/publication/traditional-rights-and-freedoms-encroachments-by-commonwealth-laws-alrc-interim-report-127/10-fair-trial/open-justice/">open justice</a>. However, closed hearings are an option in other sensitive cases, such as those involving child victims of sexual assault. </p>
<p>The main problem with the NSIA is that it creates a situation in which national security information can be used in a courtroom without the defendant, jury, media or general public knowing the details of that information. </p>
<p>Producing evidence in summary or redacted form means that the gist of the information is provided, but key details are kept secret. In fact, it is not even clear under Australian law that something approximating a gist needs to be given.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/from-richard-boyle-and-witness-k-to-media-raids-its-time-whistleblowers-had-better-protection-121555">From Richard Boyle and Witness K to media raids: it’s time whistleblowers had better protection</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>This undermines the defendant’s ability to argue their innocence. A core aspect of <a href="https://www.alrc.gov.au/publication/traditional-rights-and-freedoms-encroachments-by-commonwealth-laws-alrc-report-129/14-procedural-fairness-2/procedural-fairness-the-duty-and-its-content/">procedural fairness</a> and the right to a fair trial is that defendants must know the case against them. This allows their lawyers to contest the veracity of the evidence through cross-examination. </p>
<p>Without knowing when or how the prosecution’s evidence was collected, or even the precise claims the evidence is making, lawyers cannot adequately defend their clients. They are fighting with one hand tied behind their backs.</p>
<h2>Weighing national security vs a fair trial</h2>
<p>Moreover, in deciding how potentially sensitive information can be used in court, judges <a href="http://www8.austlii.edu.au/cgi-bin/viewdoc/au/legis/cth/consol_act/nsiacpa2004575/s31.html">must give greater weight to national security</a> than the defendant’s right to receive a fair hearing.</p>
<p>In other words, the NSIA does not require a judge to balance national security and a fair trial equally. More weight must be given to the former under the law.</p>
<p>It may be that <a href="https://www.biicl.org/files/5038_terrorism_and_the_right_to_a_fair_trial__2_.pdf">judges can still strike an appropriate balance</a> so defendants receive a fair hearing in cases like these. But if a contest between national security and a fair trial needs to be decided, it is clear which one wins. </p>
<p>Using the NSIA in the Collaery trial is also significant because the accused is a whistleblowing lawyer and not someone accused of terrorism. </p>
<p><div data-react-class="Tweet" data-react-props="{"tweetId":"1166265041487724544"}"></div></p>
<p>After the recent police raids on the <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2019-07-15/abc-raids-australian-federal-police-press-freedom/11309810">ABC headquarters</a>, the <a href="https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/afp-raid-home-of-news-corp-journalist-over-national-security-reporting-20190604-p51ub0.html">home of a News Corp journalist</a> and the <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2019/sep/04/australian-federal-police-raid-home-of-commonwealth-official-in-canberra">home of an Australian Signals Directorate officer</a>, the Australian media will be watching this trial closely. </p>
<p>It is likely, given the sensitive nature of the ASIS bugging scandal, that information will be withheld from Collaery’s defence team for national security reasons. This is a significant test case for whether whistleblowers can receive a fair trial in the current climate of government secrecy.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/122638/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Keiran Hardy 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 purpose of the NSIA is to protect national security information from being disclosed in courts. But this can undermine a defendant’s ability to argue his or her innocence.Keiran Hardy, Postdoctoral Research Fellow, Griffith Criminology Institute, Griffith UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1235212019-09-29T19:56:25Z2019-09-29T19:56:25ZAustralia has enacted 82 anti-terror laws since 2001. But tough laws alone can’t eliminate terrorism<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/294649/original/file-20190928-185407-hmedm2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Australia has enacted 20 new anti-terror laws since 2014. Several more bills have been introduced by Home Affairs Minister Peter Dutton and are now before parliament.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">James Ross/AAP</span></span></figcaption></figure><p><em>This is part of a new series looking at the national security challenges facing Australia, how our leaders are responding to them through legislation and how this is impacting society. Read other stories in the series <a href="https://theconversation.com/au/topics/australias-security-state-77051">here</a>.</em></p>
<hr>
<p>In late September, Home Affairs Minister Peter Dutton introduced a new bill that would give him <a href="https://www.theaustralian.com.au/nation/politics/peter-dutton-in-new-bid-for-tougher-terror-laws/news-story/940c586d95cfd6f71dd53e7c2d29d301">stronger powers</a> to strip the Australian citizenship of dual nationals convicted of terror-related offences or who in engage in related activities. </p>
<p>In response to the prospect of foreign fighters returning from conflicts overseas, the bill proposes extending the <a href="http://www6.austlii.edu.au/cgi-bin/viewdoc/au/legis/cth/consol_act/aca2007254/s32a.html">current citizenship revocation law</a> to any dual national who is convicted of a terrorism offence carrying at least three years imprisonment (compared to the current six). </p>
<p>It would also be back-dated to account for any terrorism convictions or conduct from May 2003 onwards (compared to the current cut-off date of December 2015).</p>
<p>To protect the rights of dual nationals, the bill proposes changing the process for revoking citizenship. Instead of it automatically ceasing when people engage in terror-related conduct, the minister would have the sole power to decide if they should be stripped of their citizenship.</p>
<p>This procedural change is unusual because moves to repeal or wind back
anti-terrorism laws have been few and far between. </p>
<p>Unfortunately, however, in all other respects, the new citizenship bill fits squarely within the pattern of overzealous Australian anti-terror law-making over the past 18 years. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/preventing-foreign-fighters-from-returning-home-could-be-dangerous-to-national-security-120752">Preventing foreign fighters from returning home could be dangerous to national security</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>A new law every 6.7 weeks</h2>
<p>Since the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks in the United States, the Australian parliament has responded to the threat of terrorism here and overseas by enacting dozens of new laws or amending existing laws.</p>
<hr>
<p><iframe id="tc-infographic-437" class="tc-infographic" height="400px" src="https://cdn.theconversation.com/infographics/437/e5ebd58456b2483e7817dd97dbdd4de20304a111/site/index.html" width="100%" style="border: none" frameborder="0"></iframe></p>
<figure>
<figcaption>Note: Hover on desktop to see names and links of individual acts.</figcaption>
</figure>
<hr>
<p>In 2011, University of Toronto Professor Kent Roach famously described this response in Australia as one of “<a href="https://www.cambridge.org/core/books/911-effect/australia-responds-hyperlegislation/DFDCB4FEEFC43700DE121DA29D423F45">hyper-legislation</a>”. </p>
<p>Another expert, UNSW Professor George Williams calculated that between the September 11 terrorist attacks and the defeat of the Howard government in November 2007, a new anti-terror law was enacted on average every <a href="http://classic.austlii.edu.au/au/journals/MelbULawRw/2011/38.html">6.7 weeks</a>.</p>
<p>The <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-28082962">declaration of a caliphate</a> by the Islamic State in mid-2014 led to another flurry of legislative activity in parliament. </p>
<p>This started with the <a href="https://www.legislation.gov.au/Details/C2014A00108">National Security Legislation Amendment Act (No 1) 2014 (Cth)</a>, which <a href="https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/australias-new-security-laws-explained-20140926-10mh6d.html">controversially</a> exempted undercover ASIO officers from criminal prosecution, expanded that organisation’s access to computer networks, and restricted the leaking of sensitive information. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/national-security-bills-compound-existing-threats-to-media-freedom-29946">National security bills compound existing threats to media freedom</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>In the five years since then, 19 more anti-terrorism laws have been passed. That brings the total number of substantive anti-terrorism laws enacted by parliament to 82 since the Sept. 11 attacks, with a further six bills either currently before parliament or about to be introduced.</p>
<p>This is a staggering number of laws, and far exceeds the volume in the United Kingdom, Canada and even the United States in response to Sept 11. </p>
<h2>Draconian and unworkable laws</h2>
<p>It is not only the sheer number of laws, but also their scope, which makes Australia stand out among Western democracies. </p>
<p>At the core of Australia’s anti-terrorism regime is a carefully considered and, in the eyes of most commentators, <a href="https://www.legislation.gov.au/Details/C2019C00152">balanced definition of terrorism</a>.</p>
<p>However, as the years have gone by, increasingly draconian, and often unworkable, legislation has spiralled out beyond this definition. For instance, the mere act of travel to certain areas, such as Mosul in Iraq, <a href="https://www.ag.gov.au/NationalSecurity/Counterterrorismlaw/Pages/ForeignIncursionsAndRecruitmentOffences.aspx">has been criminalised</a>, as well as <a href="https://www.ag.gov.au/NationalSecurity/Counterterrorismlaw/Pages/UrgingViolenceAndAdvocatingTerrorismOffences.aspx">advocating terrorism</a>. </p>
<p>Instead of working with companies like Facebook and Twitter in the aftermath of the Christchurch terrorist attacks, the government imposed impractical <a href="https://www.legislation.gov.au/Details/C2019A00038">obligations</a> on them to scrutinise the online activities of their customers (with further laws <a href="https://www.pm.gov.au/media/stronger-action-against-terror-content">threatened</a> in the event of non-compliance).</p>
<p>In addition to the stripping of the citizenship of dual nationals, another bill would <a href="https://www.legislation.gov.au/Details/C2019A00053">prevent anyone from returning home</a> from overseas conflicts for a considerable period of time under a Temporary Exclusion Order, even Australians who don’t hold another passport.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/theres-no-clear-need-for-peter-duttons-new-bill-excluding-citizens-from-australia-119876">There’s no clear need for Peter Dutton’s new bill excluding citizens from Australia</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p><a href="https://www.aph.gov.au/Parliamentary_Business/Bills_Legislation/Bills_Search_Results/Result?bId=s1222">Another bill</a> before parliament would require people who have previously been charged with a terrorism offence (regardless of whether they were ultimately acquitted) to prove extraordinary circumstances before being granted bail for a subsequent offence.</p>
<p>This demonstrates just how far lawmakers have strayed from the fundamental human rights and principles of criminal justice. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/294280/original/file-20190926-51425-1ks7fjg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/294280/original/file-20190926-51425-1ks7fjg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/294280/original/file-20190926-51425-1ks7fjg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/294280/original/file-20190926-51425-1ks7fjg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/294280/original/file-20190926-51425-1ks7fjg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/294280/original/file-20190926-51425-1ks7fjg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/294280/original/file-20190926-51425-1ks7fjg.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">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Home Affairs Minister Peter Dutton would have the power to decide on revoking citizenship for those convicted of terror offenses under a new bill before parliament.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Sam Mooy/AAP</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>What anti-terror laws are intended to do</h2>
<p>In the immediate aftermath of the September 11 attacks, Australian lawmakers might have been excused any overreaction on the grounds the country didn’t have much historical experience with terrorism or in legislating in response to this threat. </p>
<p>At the time, there were <a href="http://classic.austlii.edu.au/au/journals/MelbULawRw/2011/38.html#fnB12">no specific anti-terrorism laws</a> at the federal level in Australia. This was undoubtedly a significant oversight which needed to be remedied.</p>
<p>Even today, more than 18 years on and with over 80 laws in place, it’s somewhat understandable lawmakers react to terrorist attacks by seeking to take swift action. </p>
<p>One of the (few) downsides of a democratic political system is that parliamentarians are hit with the full force of public hysteria about actual and perceived terrorist threats. The most obvious way for the parliament to address these fears is through the enactment of laws. </p>
<p>As Roger Wilkins, a former secretary of the Attorney-General’s department, <a href="https://www.smh.com.au/national/control-orders-must-be-extended-to-avoid-parisstyle-attack-in-australia-20151117-gl0yz0.html">said</a> in support of proposals to strengthen the control orders laws in the aftermath of the November 2015 Paris terrorist attacks: </p>
<blockquote>
<p>In a modern, liberal democracy, that’s about the only thing you can do.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Despite frequent claims to the contrary, this is not just a case of political opportunism on the part of the governing party. The steps taken by lawmakers are crucial in re-establishing the community’s sense of security. </p>
<p>We need to acknowledge, above all, that the buck stops with our elected representatives to protect the lives of the Australian people. They bear both the personal and professional responsibility if a terrorist act occurs which could have been prevented. </p>
<p>It is this, as much as anything else, that explains the rapid and bipartisan passage of so many laws through the parliament.</p>
<h2>Terrorism can’t be defeated through laws alone</h2>
<p>Having said all this, it’s unfortunate successive Australian governments on both sides seem to have learned little over the course of the last 18 years. </p>
<p>Statements made in the aftermath of every terrorist attack, and, most recently in responding to concerns about foreign terrorist fighters, have identified the ultimate goal as being to <a href="https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/prime-minister-malcolm-turnbull-emotional-after-downing-street-visit-20170710-gx8jev.html">“defy” and “defeat” terrorism</a>. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/how-the-australian-government-is-failing-on-countering-violent-extremism-104565">How the Australian government is failing on countering violent extremism</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>While statements such as this are clearly rhetorical, what underpins them is a failure to recognise the permanence of terrorism.</p>
<p>Terrorism in one form or another has always existed, and will always continue to exist. Neither legislation nor anything else will be able to eliminate this threat. </p>
<p>The idea of managing the threat of terrorism, in the sense that some degree of terrorism is acceptable or at least to be expected, might seem politically unpalatable. However, open acceptance of the permanence of terrorism means lawmakers will no longer be chasing – and the public no longer demanding – the achievement of an impossible goal. </p>
<p>It will also, in turn, facilitate a more proportionate response to the challenges posed by the foreign fighters phenomenon and the threat of terrorism more generally.</p>
<h2>A better way forward</h2>
<p>In a quest to eliminate terrorism, laws have been enacted that make ever-increasing intrusions into people’s lives and curtail human rights for diminishing returns in terms of security. </p>
<p>Some have even suggested these laws make us less safe. In its <a href="https://www.aph.gov.au/Parliamentary_Business/Committees/Joint/Intelligence_and_Security/Citizenship2019/Submissions">submission</a> to the Parliamentary Joint Committee on Intelligence and Security’s inquiry into the citizenship stripping laws, ASIO said these measures could:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>have unintended or unforeseen adverse security outcomes – potentially including reducing one manifestation of the terrorist threat while exacerbating another.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>It will never be appropriate or desirable for governments to sit back and take no action in response to the threat of terrorism. But what we need is a sharp change in approach. </p>
<p>Countering violent extremism programs have been used in Australia and other countries as another tool for responding to terrorism threats. Instead of treating such programs as a “backup” option, as they currently are in Australia, these should be brought to the fore. </p>
<p>The critical lesson of the past 18 years is that we must think creatively about how to combat the threat of terrorism, rather than continually reworking existing – and often demonstrably unsuccessful – strategies.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/123521/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>Australia now has one of the most comprehensive ranges of anti-terrorism laws of any Western democracy. It’s time to think creatively about solutions, rather than continually reworking old strategies.Nicola McGarrity, Senior Lecturer, Faculty of Law, UNSW SydneyJessie Blackbourn, Assistant Professor in Public Law and Human Rights, Durham UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.