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2 July 2004

1. Editorial
2. Brief news from Engineers Australia
3. Brief news from around the country
4. Engineers Australia to proceed with the 2004/5 Domestic Security Reportcard
5. Questions on critical infrastructure in the Commonwealth Parliament
6. Prime Minister hosts the Business Government Forum on National Security
7. New Senior Business -Government Security Group to be established
8. Protecting Australia Against Terrorism booklet
9. ALP Developments

1 Editorial
The Engineers Australia supported 2004 Homeland Security Conference is proceeding extremely well. Important corporate leaders will be speaking including Tim Blood, Managing Director P&O Ports and John George, Group General Manager Group 4 Securitas. It will incorporate a large trade show this year. Information >> .

2 Brief news from Engineers Australia

1. The National President of Engineers Australia, Doug Jones, gave a presentation at the Defence+Industry Procurement Conference in late June. His paper was called Engineering for success in Defence. It made three main recommendations. They were that Defence should (1) strive to become a client of choice, (2) commit to remain an informed buyer, and (3) invest in the engineering community to enhance its value-adding skills. The paper is at available here.
2. Engineers Australia and ETTA Training ran a highly successful 33-day workshop for the electricity sector entitled Blackstarts and rebuilding power systems after a blackstart. It was held on 28 June and ran from our Victorian Office.
3. Engineers Australia has concluded the series of suicide bombing workshops in four east coast cities. Over 120 people attended the workshops with a considerable number from the security and law enforcement community.
4. Recent media coverage: Engineers Australia was mentioned in the following articles:
• Preparation of anti-terrorism measures gathers pace, Australian Financial Review, 1 July 2004.
• It's Boom Time In The Desert- Five-tonne explosion at Woomera simulates a terrorist attack, Sun Herald, 13 June 2004.
• Howard Calls CEO Summit On Terrorism, Australian Financial Review, 25 May 2004.
• Bracing against terrorism- Engineers are taking a pivotal role in fighting crime and terrorism, The Australian, 12 May 2004.
• Building Materials Put To Bomb Test - Woomera blast, Australian Financial Review, 4 May 2004.

3 Brief news from around the country

1. The Attorney General gave an address at the Australian National University entitled International and Public Law Challenges for the Attorney General on 8 June 2004. It provides an overview of Australia legal approach to counter-terrorism. Information >>
2. A three-day counter-terrorism exercise was held in early June in Sydney next week to test the abilities of emergency services and security agencies to respond to a terrorist attack on a city office building. Called Exercise Explorer, it was designed to evaluate crisis and consequence management capabilities in a contemporary threat scenario involving the bombing of a building in the Sydney CBD. The event was part of a two-week long program involving discussion exercises on responses to a major structural collapse and subsequent investigation of the incident. The exercise has been devised by a joint Australian and NSW Government team which has spent more than six months developing the scenario and constructing a purpose-built training facility which simulates a collapsed eight-storey building at Holsworthy Barracks in Sydney's west. Explorer is the third of five exercises scheduled for this year as part of the ongoing $15.7 million National Counter Terrorism Committee exercise program.

4 Engineers Australia to proceed with the 2004/5 Domestic Security Reportcard
The Council of Engineers Australia has approved the production of the 2004/5 Domestic Security Reportcard. The report is due out by late this year. The stages in preparing the Reportcard will be:

1. forming an internal steering committee and external advisory group to provide peer review
2. wide consultation with all stakeholders include the business community, professions, the public and the three levels of government
3. publishing an issues paper of metrics for determining the effectiveness and efficiency of domestic security measures. The metrics will be based on a range of documents including the Commonwealth's Statement of Principles for the Protection of Critical Infrastructure, recommendations of the 2002 Business-Government Taskforce on Critical Infrastructure Protection, and the recommendations from EA's Engineering a Safer Australia: Securing Critical Infrastructure and the Built Environment.
4. publishing an issues paper of possible scenarios on various approaches to Australia domestic security measures including structural arrangements, engagement of the government and non-government sectors, and integration of security issues into policy and operational decision making
5. issuing a comprehensive description of Australia domestic security measures as they exist today
6. releasing the Reportcard which will rate the nation

The underlying principles of the Reportcard include:

1. embrace all-hazards, all-agencies and risk management approaches
2. advance whole of nation interests
3. be apolitical, ethical and socially responsible
4. appropriate recognition will be given to the past efforts of governments, businesses and the professions
5. add value and integrate with existing government initiatives particularly the TISN in the Attorney-General's Department and SET Unit in the Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet
6. be multi-disciplinary
7. wide consultation with stakeholders
8. the publication is to be analytically and evidence based
9. the metrics used to determine the ratings will be transparent

"The 2004/5 Domestic Security Reportcard will be of great interest to the public, business community and the three level of governments as it will give a benchmark on where we the nation is today", said Bruce Howard, Security Commissioner. "It will be as rigorous and be as robust as the State of the Environment Report and the 2001 Australian Infrastructure Reportcard."

5 Questions on critical infrastructure in the Commonwealth Parliament
Answers were provided by the Attorney-General in the Commonwealth Parliament on 22 June 2004 to the following questions asked by Mr McClelland, Shadow Minister for Homeland Security

1. In respect of the 2002-2003 Budget measure "E-Security National Agenda", what sum has been spent by his department during (a) 2002-2003, and (b) 2003-2004 on improving e-security.
2. On what e-security initiatives has funding been spent by his department.
3. Since his answer to question No. 2276 (Hansard, 9 October 2003, page 2133), (a) which additional groups have been constituted in the Trusted Information Sharing Network (TISN), (b) when was each of these groups constituted, and (c) which Commonwealth agencies were responsible for coordinating the creation of these groups.
4. In respect of the groups still being constituted, (a) which groups are they, (b) when does the Government aim to have them constituted, and (c) which Commonwealth agencies are responsible for coordinating their creation.
5. On what dates has each group in the TISN met.
6. Who is on the Critical Infrastructure Advisory Council and which industry sectors do they represent. · In respect of each meeting of the council, (a) when did it meet, (b) what matters did it consider, and (c) what were the outcomes. Hansard >>
   

6 Prime Minister hosts the Business Government Forum on National Security
On 23 June 2004 in Canberra, the Prime Minister and a number of senior ministers and bureaucrats hosted a meeting 40 senior industry leaders. The purpose of the forum was to strengthen the partnership between business and government in the protection of Australia against terrorism, including addressing who pays. In his opening address, the Prime Minister identified the purpose of the meeting as:

"The aim out of a gathering such as this is of course, I hope, communicate to you what we have done, to make the obvious point that there is a cost for all of us, there is cost for you involved in taking counter terrorism and security measures. . We now live in a world now where we're taking measures to improve security and to fight terrorism is a cost of doing business. There is a cost on the Australian taxpayer and I've outlined some of the dimensions that have been involved in that. And collectively, we do pay a heavy price in economic terms, but over all the price that we do pay in those economic terms has to be put against the extraordinarily high level of disruption and dislocation to our economy as well as to our way our life, let alone of course the cost in loss of life that might occur if a terrorist attack were to take place in this country.

Information
The full text of the Prime Minister's speech is here.
The 22 June 2004 media release on the event is here.
At the event, the Attorney-General gave a speech entitled Critical Infrastructure Protection and National Security. It is available here.

7 New Senior Business -Government Security Group to be established
One of the key message from the 23 June 2004 Business Government Forum on National Security was the need to build on the good work already being done and to ensure the lines of communication between government and business remain open.

As a result, the Commonwealth Government has decided to establish a consultative group of senior business leaders whose companies or organisations are responsible for major infrastructure assets to raise business leadership.

The consultative group will provide a forum through which Australian business could provide high level advice and feedback on national security measures that relate to business, focussing particularly on critical infrastructure protection. It will provide a mechanism for the Australian government to discuss proposed new security initiatives and developments. It will complement the more specific ongoing medium term strategic objectives of the existing Critical Infrastructure Advisory Council and the Trusted Information Sharing Network. Information>>

8 Protecting Australia Against Terrorism booklet

On 23 June 2004, the Prime Minister officially launched the Australian Government's comprehensive overview of Australia 's national counter-terrorism policy and arrangements. The PM&C publication - Protecting Australia Against Terrorism - explains the government's strategies for confronting the threat of terrorism in a complex and challenging security environment. It:

• describes the features of the new security environment
• outlines Australia 's national framework and arrangements for countering terrorism
• explains the steps the Australian Government has taken to protect Australians and Australia 's interests against the threat of terrorism.

The booklet is available here.

9 ALP Developments
Robert McClelland, Shadow Minister for Homeland Security, has claimed that 10 national security programs delayed or abandoned on 24 June 2004. The programs and minister with Parliamentary responsibility are:

1. Delay in regional airport security upgrades (Anderson)
2. Delay in the implementation of CRIMTRAC (Ellison)
3. Abandonment of AUSTRAC cost recovery model (Ellison)
4. Failure to confiscate terrorist assets (Downer)
5. Failure to confiscate proceeds of crime (Ellison)
6. Delay in delivery of Commonwealth armoured vehicles (Ruddock)
7. Delay in the Indonesian counter terrorism assistance package (Downer)
8. Delay and cost blow out in the Customs Cargo Management reengineering project (Ellison)
9. Delay in the construction of a detention centre on Christmas Island (Vanstone)
10. Delay in signing a memorandum of understanding relating to people smuggling with Indonesia (Downer) Information.

Other ALP developments

1. The ALP has provided details on their proposals for vessels for the Australian Coastguard. Information.
2. On the eve of the International Ship and Port Security (ISPS) compliance deadline, Shadow Minister for Transport Martin Ferguson has called on the Howard Government to ensure that the maritime industry in Australia is provided with certainty and clear direction over the transition period. Information.