July 30, 2024
New ministers sworn in SHIFTING Australia's intelligence agency back under the watch of the Attorney-General was a "sensible" move, former ASIO chief Dennis Richardson has said.
But the Prime Minister's pre-election reshuffle was a missed opportunity to finally break up the beleaguered Home Affairs portfolio, former senior public servants say.
While announcing major cabinet changes on Sunday, Anthony Albanese confirmed responsibility for ASIO will be moved out of Home Affairs seven years after the mega-portfolio was created.
On Monday, Tony Burke was sworn in as Minister for both Home Affairs and Immigration, after Clare O'Neil and Andrew Giles were shifted from the roles, respectively, and put in charge of other portfolios.
The logic behind the relocating ASIC was to "put it in the same place as the Australian Federal Police", Mr Albanese said.
The AFP, along with the Australian Criminal Intelligence Commission and financial intelligence agency AUSTRAC, was shifted out of Home Affairs when Labor came into government in 2022.
It was a winding back of the behemoth portfolio former prime minister Malcolm Turnbull created in 2017, which brought together immigration, border protection, law enforcement and domestic security.
The changes were touted by the Coalition government at the time as a way to improve collaboration and information-sharing among agencies.
Mr Richardson, who was director-general of security from 1996 to 2005, said there was "no evidence" to suggest information sharing between the agencies improved while ASIO fell under Home Affairs.
"It's sensible to have them in the one portfolio, but I think an agency such as ASIO should report to the first law officer of the land," he told The Canberra Times.
Former senior public servant Paddy Gourley welcomed Mr Albanese's decision to take ASIO out of the mix.
"Getting ASIO out of Home Affairs is a good move as it provides a greater degree of separation between an intelligence-gathering body and related policy functions," he said.
"But more should be done to Home Affairs than just getting ASIO out."
Home Affairs has been the subject of scathing reviews over many years and has been regarded by public servants as the worst department to work for.
For years there have been calls to break up the super-portfolio.
Mr Gourley has long been critical of the "failed experiment" he says is the Home Affairs portfolio.
He said Immigration was a major function that deserved a separate department in its own right, so as not to be distorted by functions like customs and national security.
Former Immigration deputy secretary Peter Hughes said the government needed to "bite the bullet at some point" and split Immigration off from Home Affairs.
He said for Immigration to work properly, it required a free-standing portfolio with a minister dedicated exclusively to immigration, multicultural affairs and citizenship functions.
"It's big, it's complex, it's very time-consuming of ministers' times. It's always politically sensitive," Mr Hughes said.
"To get back on track and not to be constantly found to be flawed and wanting in both policy and client service there needs to be a dedicated organisation and minister."
But a change as big as that was unlikely to happen in the near future, Mr Hughes said, given the significant reshuffle that happened on Sunday and with a federal election now less than 12 months away.
"But really, it will have to be on their agenda. Otherwise, the same kind of problems will just keep repeating themselves," Mr Hughes said.
Opposition home affairs spokesman James Paterson was scathing in his criticisms of the changes, arguing security agencies should work together "under one roof" in the nation's interest.
"The Albanese government has now finally destroyed the Home Affairs portfolio as they have long secretly wanted to do," he said. Editorial: Page 14
