Protecting Australians and safeguarding our way of life has always been the highest priority for Home Affairs Minister Karen Andrews.
Minister Andrews said it was an honour leading the men and women of the Home Affairs Portfolio, whose diligence continues to keep Australia prosperous, secure, and united.
“Australia has the best operational law enforcement and security agencies in the world, which is demonstrated by the fantastic results they have achieved under the Morrison Government,” Minister Andrews said.
Strong law enforcement action – enabled by record funding and new powers passed by the Morrison Government – have seen record seizures and arrests by the Australian Federal Police (AFP) and Australian Border Force (ABF); while the Coalition Government’s plan for a stronger future through the 2021-2022 Federal Budget further supported Australian law enforcement agencies, investing:
- $170.4 million to further develop the capabilities of the AFP and ABF;
- $116.8 million to increase intelligence outputs and drive more disruptions, seizures and arrests; and,
- $35.1 million to safeguard our critical trade links from transnational, serious and organised criminals.
Working with the AFP’s Australian Centre to Counter Child Exploitation – opened by the Morrison Government in 2020 – the Coalition Government has significantly improved child protection arrangements, including through the:
- launch of a new national strategy to prevent child sexual abuse;
- creation of a new podcast to deter child sexual abuse and exploitation, and bring to justice those who commit these horrendous crimes;
- expansion of the AFP’s world leading Technology Detection Dog program, to sniff out those who would hide child exploitation material on USBs and SD cards; and,
- the Stop the Stigma initiative, to encourage victim survivors to speak out and speak up.
Under Minister Andrews, the Home Affairs Portfolio has spearheaded several significant cybersecurity improvements – directly benefiting all Australians – including by:
- supporting industries to grow online by launching the National Plan to Combat Cybercrime;
- cracking down on the cybercriminals by funding a dedicated AFP-led cybercrime centre;
- securing landmark reforms to national security legislation to better protect our critical infrastructure;
- making all Australians safer through passage of important legislation to revolutionise the way Australian agencies investigate and prosecute cybercrime;
- ensuring our law enforcement agencies have much needed powers to combat crime on the dark web;
- cracking down and protecting Australians from ransomware through the Ransomware Action Plan;
- facilitating the exchange of digital information with US authorities by signing the CLOUD Act Agreement with the United States; and,
- launching a public information campaign to increase Australian’s cyber security.
In stark contrast to the previous Labor government – under whom 50,000 people arrived illegally on more than 820 boats, with tragically at least 1,200 drowning at sea – the Coalition’s successful border protection arrangements under Operation Sovereign Borders were established and strengthened; and since 2014, there has not been a successful people smuggling venture to Australia.
In October 2021, Minister Andrews finalised the Regional Resettlement Arrangement with Papua New Guinea – ending an agreement Labor entered into when it lost control of our borders – and signed an important agreement with Nauru to establish an enduring regional processing capability to protect our region from maritime people smuggling. Further, the Morrison Government’s agreement to resettle refugees in New Zealand demonstrates once again that there is no path to settlement in Australia for anyone who comes illegally by boat.
Sadly, terrorism continues to be an enduring challenge to Australia’s security and social cohesion. However, our counter terrorism arrangements have been significantly strengthened over the last 12 months, including:
- committing $86.7 million in the Federal Budget to protect the community from the enduring threat posed by high-risk terrorists currently serving custodial sentences;
- launching Australia’s new counter terrorism strategy;
- passing important new laws to protect Australians from convicted terrorist offenders;
- investing an additional $61.7 million into Australia’s countering violent extremism programs; and,
- listing the entirety of Hamas; the Base; and the entirety of Hizballah, as terrorist organisations.
“One of the major challenges Australia faced last year was safely reopening our borders and securing our economic recovery, while balancing the need to protect ourselves from widespread COVID transmission,” Minister Andrews said.
Over the last 12 months, our international border has safely reopened to fully vaccinated citizens, permanent residents, and visa holders – reuniting countless families and friends, but also securing the workforce, and the tourists, travellers and traders we need to fuel our vision for a stronger Australia.
Minister Andrews said that under the Morrison Government, the Home Affairs Portfolio successfully safeguarded Australia’s sovereignty, borders, and way of life.
“We set a high-bar with our track record on national security and border protection, and I’m proud of all the significant achievements we accomplished,” Minister Andrews said.