The Australian intelligence agency will lead a new task force to strengthen its response to the threat of foreign intervention. The federal government plans to spend 88 million yuan to form a new anti-foreign intervention task force. The task force will expand the resources of the National Anti-Foreign Intervention Coordinator, currently under the Ministry of the Interior, to help “crack any attempt to endanger our national interests.”
“This threat has always existed, and we have worked hard to stay ahead of it for many years,” Prime Minister Morrison said. “The latest initiatives have increased the unity and ensured that we have world-class tools that can be united to identify, disrupt and prosecute.” The task force will be headed by a senior ASIO official who will include members of the Australian Federal Police and a range of security agencies.
The government intends to strengthen intelligence gathering, assessment, law enforcement capabilities and jointness, as well as decision-making among agencies, in order to crack more potential threats. Earlier, national security concerns were caused by claims that Chinese spies, influence political parties, multiple universities, and federal agencies have suffered cyber attacks. The formation of the Anti-Foreign Intervention Task Force does not require amendments to the law, meaning there is no need to vote in Congress.
abc.net.au/news/2019-12-02/asio-to-lead-foreign-interference-taskforce/11756060