Bishop, Dutton in ‘absolute agreement’ on ASD powers

Julie Bishop says she and Peter Dutton agree on the issue of possible expansion of Australian cyber spy power.

Peter Dutton and Julie Bishop.

Julie Bishop claims she and Peter Dutton are in “absolute agreement” over the possible expansion of Australian cyber spy power, despite saying there is “no proposal” before government for an expansion while Mr Dutton says there is a “case to be made” for the move.

The Foreign Minister and Home Affairs Minister have claimed all week that they are on a unity ticket over whether to expand the role of the Australian Signals Directorate, while continually making contradictory statements.

The ongoing saga prompted Labor senator Stephen Conroy to yesterday describe the relationship between the two ministers as a “running battle” to position themselves for the top job in case Malcolm Turnbull “falls under the proverbial bus”.

On Wednesday, Ms Bishop said she was “not aware of any need” to expand the ASD’s powers, a day after Mr Dutton said there was a “case to be made” for giving the ASD a role in cracking down on pedophiles in Australia.

Today Ms Bishop said she and Mr Dutton were “absolutely in agreement” on the role of government agencies in protecting Australians.

“We have invested record sums in our security and intelligence agencies to keep Australians safe at home and overseas,” she said. “We will continue to seek to disrupt criminals and those who would seek to do harm to our people.”

Communications Minister Mitch Fifield said that in the communications and home affairs portfolios there was a concerted effort to crack down on child pornography.

“We have, within my portfolio, the powers to direct sites within Australia to take down that material to fine them,” Senator Fifield said.

“If they don’t, there are strong and close international relationships between law enforcement agencies and eSafety Commissioners to work to bring material down in other jurisdictions which can be accessed within Australia.

“So, rest assured, it’s a full-court press. If there’s more that we can do, then absolutely we will.”

Ms Bishop claimed there was a ministerial unity ticket on the issue.

“So you now have Peter Dutton, Julie Bishop and Mitch Fifield in absolute agreement on this issue,” she said.

Peter Dutton and Julie Bishop.

However, Ms Bishop said there was no current proposal before government when asked whether the ASD should have its powers expanded target onshore servers harbouring child pornography.

“The Australian government is committed to ensuring that criminals are not able to exploit,

particularly, young people online,” Ms Bishop said.

“As Senator Fifield just pointed out, the home affairs department and the communications department are unrelenting in ensuring that we keep Australians safe, and we’re doing great deal in that regard.

“There is no other proposal before the government, and so we are focused on ensuring that all the tools we have available to us can be directed to appropriately safeguarding Australians.”