PM’s super security ministry shake-up

PRIME Minister Malcolm Turnbull has announced the creation of an Office of National Intelligence under a new ministry of home affairs to combine the strengths of differing security agencies.

The new home affairs portfolio would be similar to the UK’s Home Office arrangement, but not the Department of Homeland Security in the US.

Each agency under the new umbrella will retain their statutory independence, Mr Turnbull said. They include spy agency ASIO, the Australian Federal Police, the Australian Border Force and the Australian Criminal Intelligence Commission.

Current Immigration Minister Peter Dutton will oversee the new portfolio and be assisted by AttorneyGeneral George Brandis and Justice Minister Michael Keenan.

The measure is part of the most significant reform to national intelligence and domestic security arrangements in more than 40 years.

“We need these reforms, not because the system is broken, but because the security environment is evolving quickly,” Mr Turnbull said.

“It’s becoming more complex. It’s likely to remain so for the foreseeable future. We need a better structure to meet the challenge of the times.

“Our agencies are highly capable and staffed by very skilled and dedicated officers.

“[This review] has made many important recommendations to transform our highly capable agencies into a world-class intelligence community to ensure, as the review says, that the whole is greater than the sum of the parts.”

Mr Turnbull said the challenge of meeting emerging threats needed changes encompassing all aspects of the intelligence community, its structure, capability, coordination and government oversight.

The role of the AttorneyGeneral will also be reviewed as part of the creation of the new home affairs ministry.