It seems that someone in the Morrison Government may have laid a complaint........
Federal police have
raided the home of a journalist over a 2018 story detailing an alleged
government proposal to spy on Australians.
Australian Federal
Police officers produced a warrant to search the home, computer and mobile
phone of Canberra-based News Corp Australia journalist Annika Smethurst, The
Daily Telegraph reports.
The story in question
had included images of letters between the heads of the Home Affairs and
Defence departments, discussing potential new powers for the Australian Signals
Directorate (ASD).
The powers would have
allowed the ASD's cyber sleuths to monitor Australian citizens and businesses
on home soil, rather than being limited to gathering intelligence on
foreigners, the story said.
The AFP said the raid is
in relation to "alleged unauthorised disclosure of national security
information" and that no arrests are expected on Tuesday.
"Police will allege
the unauthorised disclosure of these specific documents undermines Australia's
national security," the agency said in a statement…...
BACKGROUND
Sunday Tasmanian, 6 May 2018, p.13:
The Federal Government
has “war-gamed” scenarios where our cyber spy agency needed to be
given the power to investigate Australian citizens.
Last week the Sunday
Tasmanian revealed a secret plan to increase the Australian Signals
Directorate’s powers to allow them to spy on Aussies.
Department bosses
claimed there was “no proposal to increase the ASD’s powers to collect intelligence
on Australians”. But letters between Home Affairs secretary Mike Pezzullo and
Defence Secretary Greg Moriarty reveal the departments of Home Affairs and
Defence allocated staff to war game a raft of scenarios where the ASD would
need to spy on Australians.
The list of scenarios
were compiled in two attachments and sent to the heads of both departments
under the headline “scenarios proposed by Home Affairs”.
The document explains
how ASD could be used to disrupt “onshore and offshore online threats” such as
“disrupting child exploitation networks and terrorist networks” and “illicit
drug importation, money laundering and serious crimes”.
Last week’s Sunday
Tasmanian exclusive has prompted calls for MPs to have greater oversight of
Australia’s intelligence agencies…..
Sunday Telegraph, 29 April 2018, p.5:
Australia’s intelligence
watchdog has warned the Australian Signals Directorate against any moves that
would change the agency’s focus “to people and organisations inside Australia”
instead of focusing on activities overseas.
The veiled warning came
in March during a review into new laws which established the ASD as a statutory
body.
In her submission,
Inspector-General of Intelligence and Security (IGIS) Margaret Stone, a former
Federal Court judge, said under the current laws ASD is not permitted to access
digital information located inside Australia.
“Accessing data located
inside Australia is properly an action that requires an ASIO or police
warrant,” she said in her submission.
“Nothing in the
Intelligence Services Act would allow ASD to access restricted data on a
computer physically located inside Australia — even where doing so would assist
in gathering intelligence or disrupting crime,” she said…..
Sunday Telegraph, 29 April 2018, p.4:
Two powerful government
agencies are discussing radical new espionage powers that would see Australia’s
cyber spy agency monitor Australian citizens for the first time.
Under the plan, emails,
bank records and text messages of Australians could be secretly accessed by
digital spies without a trace, provided the Defence and Home Affairs
ministers approved.
The power grab is
detailed in top secret letters between the heads of the Department of Home
Affairs and Defence, seen by The Sunday Telegraph, which outline proposed new
powers for Australia’s electronic spy agency — the Australian Signals
Directorate (ASD).
The Sunday Telegraph can
reveal the Secretary of the Department of Home Affairs Mike Pezzullo first
wrote to the Defence Secretary Greg Moriarty in February outlining the plan to
potentially allow government hackers to “proactively disrupt and covertly
remove” onshore cyber threats by “hacking into critical infrastructure”.
Under current laws the
ASD — whose mission statement is “Reveal Their Secrets — Protect Our Own” —
must not conduct an activity to produce intelligence on an Australian.
Instead, the Australian
Federal Police and domestic spy agency ASIO have the power to
investigate Australians with a warrant and can ask ASD for technical advice if
they don’t have the capabilities they need.
The Attorney-General is
responsible for issuing ASIO warrants, but the agency’s operations will fall
under the umbrella of Home Affairs.
Under the proposal, seen
by The Sunday Telegraph, Home Affairs Minister Peter Dutton and Defence
Minister Marise Payne would tick off on orders allowing cyber spooks to target
onshore threats without the country’s top law officer knowing.
Last month the proposal
was compiled in a top secret ministerial submission signed by ASD boss Mike
Burgess. The proposal outlines scenarios where Canberra-based cyber spies would
use offensive tactics to “counter or disrupt cyber-enabled criminals both
onshore and offshore”.
“The Department of Home
Affairs advises that it is briefing the Minister for Home Affairs to write to
you (Ms Payne) seeking your support for a further tranche of legislative reform
to enable ASD to better support a range of Home Affairs priorities.”
But The
Sunday Telegraph understands Mr Dutton has not written to Minister Payne and no
formal proposal for leglslative amendments have been presented to Government.
“The Australian Signals
Directorate has not prepared ministerial advice seeking permissions to allow
ASD to counter or disrupt cyber-enabled criminals onshore,” a spokesman for Ms
Payne said.
An intelligence source
said such reforms would allow cyber spies to secretly access
digital information on Australians without detection, including financial
transactions, health data and phone records.
“It would give the most
powerful cyber spies the power to turn on its own citizens,” the
source said.
The letter also details
a proposal for coercive “step-in” powers, meaning the intelligence agency could
force government agencies and private businesses to “comply with security
measures”.
The intelligence source
said ASD could be able to compel companies and government agencies to hand over
data or security information…… [my yellow highlighting]
Proposed changes to
Australia’s national security laws that could see journalists and
whistleblowers jailed for up to 20 years will “criminalise” reporting and
undermine the media’s ability to act in the public interest, the nation’s major
news outlets have warned.
In a joint
submission, 14 major media outlets including the ABC, Fairfax Media and
News Corp said sweeping changes to national security laws proposed by the
federal government would place journalists at “significant risk of jail time”
for doing their jobs.
The reforms,
tabled just hours after marriage equality became law in December, would
increase tenfold the maximum penalty for anyone who communicates or “deals
with” information which could potentially “cause harm to Australia’s
interests,” where that information is obtained via a government official
without authorisation.
