Government seeks eased restrictions for ASIO over foreign threat

The Foreign Intelligence Legislation Amendment Bill, which the government aimed to pass before the next election, would allow ASIO to collect intelligence on Australian citizens onshore when they were suspected of working on behalf of a foreign power.

The proposal would also ease requirements on the monitoring of suspects, allowing ASIO to collect data even when it was unclear whether the suspect was an Australian citizen.

Currently, monitoring must stop until it could be confirmed the suspect was a foreigner. But under the amended bill, the ASIO Director-General could waive that requirement even when the suspect's nationality could not be fully verified.

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William Stoltz, policy adviser at the ANU's National Security College, said the adjustment was understandable given the ease with which criminals and spies could hide their identities online.

"By allowing ASIO to spy on Australians suspected of acting for foreign powers, these amendments to the foreign intelligence warrants will bring ASIO's powers up to speed with the threat Australia now faces from foreign interference, particularly from China and Russia," he told The Canberra Times.

Australia in July attributed a massive cyber attack on Microsoft's servers to Beijing, though it was apparently carried out by non-state criminals acting with their support.

Australian Signals Directorate director-general Rachel Noble warned soon after the line between state and non-state actors had become increasingly blurred online.

The term "foreign power" would most obviously cover foreign spy agencies, but Dr Stoltz said it could be more broadly interpreted to account for the shifting threat.

"[It] could also encompass anyone spying for other state-supported organisations. This means it captures seemingly non-government organisations which are in fact operating in support of a foreign government, like the various front institutions run by the Chinese Communist Party in Australia and other states," he said.

In authorising the warrants, the Attorney-General would be required to consult either the Defence Minister or Foreign Minister to confirm the data collection was in the national interest.

Dr Stoltz said the new system was an indication ASIO would be working more closely with the Australian Secret Intelligence Service, which answered to the Foreign Minister, and the ASD, which answered to the Defence Minister.

"Reading between the lines, [that] indicates that ASIO may occasionally be spying on targets who are also of interest to ASIS or ASD," he said.

The federal government has already used the sitting week to focus on a slew of national security proposals, passing the so-called 'identify and disrupt' bill on Wednesday. That created three new warrants, allowing law enforcement to take over a suspects online accounts, and collect modify, or delete their data.

Dr Stoltz said the government was seeking to push through broader powers before heading to the polls late this year or next.

"The speed with which it has presented this bill to Parliament indicates its desire to clear the decks of complex national security legislation well before a federal election," he said.

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