No one denies the need for a capable, well-resourced Australian Defence Force. The federal government has responded to Australia’s changing strategic circumstances in part by providing the Defence Department with an additional $270 billion over …
The Strategist on: "Home Affairs"
On the whole, the Australian intelligence agencies emerged from the early 2000s with a better reputation than those of the United States or United Kingdom. The terrorist attacks on 11 September 2001 demonstrated the catastrophic …
Recently I met with a former right-wing extremist in Australia who had become deradicalised. This Australian had once believed, proudly, that given the mere fact they were born white made them superior to other races, …
Since its inception in 2013, Operation Sovereign Borders has reduced the number of irregular migrants dying at sea and stemmed the flow of people-smuggling ventures to Australia. Unfortunately, this success has come at great cost …
After a distinguished policing career spanning more than 30 years, including five in the top job as Australian Federal Police Commissioner, Andrew Colvin has decided to call it a day. For the first 25 years …
On 4 June, the Australian Federal Police executed a search warrant on the home of a News Corp journalist, apparently seeking the source of a story in April 2018 that indicated that the secretaries of …
In ASPI’s Agenda for change 2019, I argued the case for reforming the Department of Home Affairs. Despite its many successes, the department’s establishment hasn’t been smooth and a significant number of budgetary, legislative and …
Over the past four years, Australia’s border security framework has been subject to ongoing landmark overhauls. On 1 July 2015, the Department of Immigration and Border Protection and the Australian Customs and Border Protection Service …
Recent reports in the Sydney Morning Herald and the Age of shortfalls in the manning and funding of the Australian Border Force’s Cape-class patrol boats and earlier exchanges in Senate estimates suggest that the seaborne …
There’s been plenty of discussion lately about the challenges of onshore protection claims from people arriving in Australia by air. Last month, I wrote that air arrivals were Australia’s most pressing immigration border security issue. …
By the end of last week parliamentarians and sections of the media (see here and here) had all offered opinions on whether independent MP Kerryn Phelps’ medical evacuation bill would restart the people-smuggling trade to …
Over the last six years, the hopes of asylum seekers on Manus Island and Nauru have been sacrificed by an Australian government policy designed to prevent broader loss of life and maintain the sovereignty of …