The PM’s ministerial shuffle was an opportunity to continue what he started in 2022 – decentralising the power of the mighty home affairs department
‘When he transferred the AFP back to the attorney general, the prime minister moved responsibility for both law enforcement operations and policy. This week, when he shifted Asio, he only went halfway.’‘When he transferred the AFP back to the attorney general, the prime minister moved responsibility for both law enforcement operations and policy. This week, when he shifted Asio, he only went halfway.
In 2022, the then newly elected prime minister decided not to abolish home affairs – despite his government having criticised its creation in 2018. Instead, he moved the Australian federal police out of it and back within the attorney general’s remit. This week’s Asio shift is a second part of that undoing.
Pezzullo was certainly in favour of establishing home affairs as the central hub for national security, as was his minister. Under the change, responsibility for both operational activity and national security policymaking was shifted to the new department.Our Australian afternoon update breaks down the key stories of the day, telling you what’s happening and why it mattersThe Coalition’s home affairs experiment was doomed to fail.
This change goes beyond just having a second department involved in warrant authorisation to avoid having one giant department and one single minister checking their own homework and authorising secret activities – arguably an important extra layer of scrutiny in a country that does not aspire to become a police state.
United States Latest News, United States Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
Labor reappoint ASIO chief to National Security Committee in major backflipAustralian spy chief Mike Burgess has been reinstated as a permanent member of the National Security Committee after initially being removed just six months into the Albanese government’s first term.
Read more »
‘Judgment was sacrificed to ambition’: Malcolm Turnbull’s ASIO folly rightly reversedDespite the warnings of Australia’s most senior national security professionals, Peter Dutton and Mike Pezzullo convinced Turnbull to act in error.
Read more »
‘Judgment was sacrificed to ambition’: Malcolm Turnbull’s ASIO folly rightly reversedDespite the warnings of Australia’s most senior national security professionals, Peter Dutton and Mike Pezzullo convinced Turnbull to act in error.
Read more »
Running the country while choosing the curtains: how new PMs move in to No 10Compared with other countries, the speed at which Downing Street changes hands is unusual – and can be brutal
Read more »
Australian soldier and husband charged with spying for RussiaASIO director-general Mike Burgess, speaking alongside Kershaw, said the arrests came after a "lengthy and complex investigation" by law enforcement agencies.
Read more »
UK election: Why angry Britain will finally dump Tories and PM Rishi SunakFive PMs, five elections and a three-ring circus: over 14 years, the Conservative government sowed the seeds of its own downfall – and leaves a mixed legacy.
Read more »