The ease with which a hoaxer was recently able to call the prime minister’s mobile phone, pretending to be the head of GCHQ, highlights a major dilemma for democratic political leaders. Cameron said he…
A wave of small-scale assaults has shaken public confidence in governments’ capacity to protect citizens from terrorism.
AAP/Yann Korbi
The Charlie Hebdo massacre and the subsequent attack on the Hyper Cache kosher market in France are merely the latest and most bloody jihadist atrocities to have traumatised the West. From Ottawa to Sydney…
This is the area that holds strategic importance
Reuters/Balazs Koranyi
In a few short months the United States assumes Chair of the Arctic Council (AC). This is a two-year long opportunity to shape the future of the Arctic, an opportunity that will likely not come around…
In a new book, author Frank Moorhouse calls for a new compact between intelligence agency ASIO and Australian society.
AAP/Dan Peled
Frank Moorhouse is known primarily – but not exclusively – for his award-winning fiction such as the Edith Triology. In more recent times, he has turned his considerable talents to the role of the Australian…
Tony Abbott promised a government of no surprises and no excuses. 2014 delivered anything but.
AAP/Lukas Coch
In 1996, John Howard offered this aspiration for Australians: I would like to see them comfortable and relaxed about their history; I would like to see them comfortable and relaxed about the present and…
Man Haron Monis had a history of violence and radical behaviour.
AAP/Sergio Dionisio
When Tony Abbott was asked what he’d say to people wondering how Sydney’s siege had been allowed to happen given gunman Man Haron Monis was well known to police, the Prime Minister said cabinet’s National…
It is hard to police ‘soft targets’ for violent, lone wolf actors without becoming an overpoliced state.
AAP/Dean Lewins
Sydney is slowly returning to normal after police brought an end to a 16-hour siege in a Martin Place cafe in the early hours of Tuesday morning. The perpetrator, Man Haron Monis, and two hostages, Katrina…
Dramatic moment as a hostage escaped.
EPA/Joel Garrett
The dramatic siege in Sydney’s Martin Place played out in front of a global audience through real-time reporting by mainstream news outlets abetted by social media. Australian media academic Julie Posetti…
Prime Minister Tony Abbott has said the motivations of the gunman were unknown, but could be politically motivated.
AAP/Lukas Coch
Prime Minister Tony Abbott has appealed to Australians to “go about their business as usual” as a gunman holds a group of people hostage in the Lindt cafe in Martin Place, Sydney. After a meeting of cabinet’s…
ASIO and Australia’s other intelligence agencies need strong oversight to avoid the type of behaviour that went unchecked in the US after 9/11.
AAP/Alan Porritt
Earlier this week, the United States Senate Select Committee on Intelligence released its report on the CIA’s post-9/11 program of detaining and interrogating suspected terrorists during the Bush administration…
The Counter-Terrorism and Security Bill introduced in the UK parliament this week is designed to place legal requirements on certain businesses to retain information about user communications. It has its…
David Cameron entering parliament on Friday.
AAP/Alan Porritt
Climate change, Tony Abbott’s encounters with Vladimir Putin, the looming G20 and much else have pushed to the sidelines another important development of this week – the indication from Barack Obama that…
In matters of ‘security’ social problems, the persistent undesirable condition has been that of the ‘boat people’.
AAP/Scott Fisher
In matters of national security, who is deviant and poses a threat to our safety depends on the claims made by those in positions of power and the sociopolitical climate. The news media are crucial in…
George Brandis argues that it is the government’s duty to investigate and prevent serious crimes – and that metadata can help.
AAP/Alan Porritt
Metadata, previously a word limited to the tech-savvy, is now not only a hot topic of public discussion but the focus of new national security legislation. The public discussion seems split between two…
Mohammad Ali Baryalei is believed to have died fighting for Islamic State overseas. Proposed new laws could have provided for the targeted killings of people like him by Australian defence and security agencies.
AAP/Youtube
The government introduced its third set of national security laws last week. The Counter-Terrorism Legislation Amendment Bill (No 1) 2014 valuably empowers the Parliamentary Joint Committee of Intelligence…
The University of Canberra’s Amanda Jones and Professorial Fellow Michelle Grattan discuss the week in politics including the government’s “wins” before a three-week parliamentary recess, Bill Shorten’s…
Malcolm Turnbull and George Brandis have unveiled the government’s proposed mandatory data retention scheme.
AAP/Alan Porritt
The government has introduced its third and most controversial tranche of legislation to strengthen Australia’s national security armoury – the requirement that telecommunications providers keep metadata…
Sydney teenager Abdullah Elmir, who uses the alias Abu Khaled, speaking in an Islamic State video.
ABC News
New powers targeting foreign fighters and political “hate crimes” are set to be amended, Prime Minister Tony Abbott has confirmed in the hope of pushing the legislation through parliament next week. But…
You don’t need to see the whole face to identify someone.
Flickr/craig
The need to accurately identify people is important for security (and for not embarrassing yourself by hugging strangers). It was cited as the main reason for excluding and restricting the movements of…
Having used security as a pretext to impose an information blackout on operations involving asylum seekers, the government is broadening its denial of the public’s right to know.
AAP/Quinten Jones
The Abbott government’s latest tranches of national security and counter-terrorism laws represent the greatest attack on the Fourth Estate function of journalism in the modern era. They are worse than…