ASIO takes lead as spy agencies are put on war footing

An elite intelligence taskforce will be created to combat national security threats.

The formation of the unit comes amid the Chinese spy scandal involving claims by defector Wang Liqiang that he was a Chinese spy. Picture: 60 Minutes

An elite intelligence taskforce led by ASIO, the Australian Signals Directorate and Defence intelligence will be created to put the country on a virtual war footing to combat national security threats from an unprecedented level of foreign interference and espionage.

The move will see the role of ASIO expand for the first time to share classified intelligence with Australian Federal Police on foreign interference. The pooling of intelligence — through security investigations conducted by ASIO and criminal investigations under the AFP — will help determine whether charges are laid against foreign targets or whether they are quietly thrown out of the country.

READ MORE: Beijing bit player at best as cloak-and-dagger claims fall away | Andrew Hastie helped ‘spy’ find an ASIO haven | Wang Liqiang ‘merely a fraudster’, says China

The taskforce will also bring in aerial and satellite intelligence-gathering used by the Defence Department’s Australian Geo­spatial-Intelligence Organisation, as well as drawing on Austrac’s ­financial intelligence capabilities.

The formation of the unit, which will begin with initial new funding of almost $90m, comes amid the Chinese spy scandal involving claims by defector Wang Liqiang that he was a Chinese spy. The validity of Mr Wang’s claims have been questioned as ASIO seeks to confirm his story while confirming that it is also investigating claims China sought to install an agent in Australia’s federal parliament.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison (right) speaks to Home Affairs Minister Peter Dutton during House of Representatives Question Time.

The government said the creation of the taskforce was not ­related to the recent claims of Chinese interference and that it had been in development for months. It was, however, signed off by cabinet last week.

Scott Morrison confirmed the establishment of the Counter Foreign Interference Taskforce, saying it would elevate the intelligence agencies’ abilities to detect and disrupt foreign interference attempts and bring prosecutions under criminal espionage offences passed last year.

“Our No 1 priority is to keep Australians safe,” the Prime Minister said. “Our security and intelligence agencies have been clear that the threat from foreign interference has never been greater.

“This taskforce is our next step to combat those threats as they evolve and to identify and disrupt the very people who want to undermine our democracy and way of life. My government is constantly monitoring and reviewing the threats our country faces so our agencies have the right tools at their disposal.”

The taskforce requires no legislation, nor does it involve changes to restrictions on defence agencies such as ASD which is limited by law to use its capabilities — which includes offensive cyber combat — to detect and disrupt only offshore threats to Australia.

ASIO's new $600 million headquarters in Canberra.

The taskforce will see the ­National Counter Foreign Interference Co-ordinator in the ­Department of Home Affairs take on an operational role in discovering, tracking, analysing and disrupting foreign interference.

A joint statement to be released by Mr Morrison, Home Affairs Minister Peter Dutton and ­Defence Minister Linda Reynolds says the taskforce will address the issue of trying to bring prosecutions against known targets operating on Australian soil. The lack of arrests and criminal prosecutions has been a source of criticism of the agencies before significant changes, including new criminal offences, were brought in last year, alongside foreign interference laws.

The most significant changes will be specialised legal capabilities for ASIO to provide briefs — using what would have otherwise been classified intelligence — to the AFP for potential prosecution.

The taskforce, which will be led by an as yet unnamed ASIO official, will enjoy greater intelligence sharing between agencies at the highest level, with the Office of National Intelligence providing strategic advice to government. It will also be given greater responsibility for analysis of foreign disinformation activity designed to interfere with Australia’s political system.

The AFP, as announced last year, will have an investigation unit dedicated to countering foreign interference and this will be represented on the taskforce.

It will also be tasked with greater “specialist covert and technical collection support capabilities”.

The nation’s spy agencies are on a virtual war footing to combat an unprecedented level of foreign interference and espionage.

Austrac, which has recently come to public attention with its discovery that Westpac bank had breached anti-money-laundering and counter-terrorism financing laws 23 million times, will be tasked with using its financial intelligence capabilities for foreign interference stings.

The secretive Australian Geospatial-Intelligence Organisation, which uses satellite and aerial imagery for primarily military purposes, will also join the taskforce. The statement to be released on Monday says the taskforce will be an advancement in intelligence sharing and capabilities in tackling what ASIO has repeatedly warned has become the most prolific level of espionage activity since the height of the Cold War.

“This is a boost to our ability to discover, track and disrupt foreign interference in Australia,” the statement says. “The increase in intelligence collection, assessment and law enforcement capabilities will help turn more intelligence assessments into operational disruptions to better protect Australians from foreign interference. The new dedicated capability of the taskforce will also increase the collaboration and streamline the decision-making between agencies, and strengthen Australia’s analysis of the sophisticated disinformation activities happening across the world, particularly against democratic processes and elections.”

In a submission to the parliamentary joint committee on intelligence and security in January last year, ASIO cited six examples of individuals it had targeted that were involved in espionage or foreign interference, including Australian nationals working on behalf of foreign states.