I’d like to acknowledge the Ngunnawal and Ngambri people who have been the traditional owners of the land around Canberra for 50,000 years.
I’m really pleased to have the opportunity to talk to Australia’s top thought leaders on national security. There are so many decades of experience in this room.
Rory, thank you for your kind introduction, and thank you for creating this opportunity.
Today, I want to do three things.
I want to talk about our national security environment, and how it is changing.
I want to explain how our government is approaching the task of preparing our country for the decades ahead.
And then I want to spend some time on Home Affairs, and the future of this critical area of the Australian Government.
Our national security environment
Australia has faced difficult global security environments before.
But I do not think we have ever faced one as complex.
Our world is more deeply connected than we could ever have possibly imagined. Our financial systems, data exchanges, trade routes, migration pathways, telecommunications, supply chains and social lives are embedded in vast global networks.
This connectivity means convenience, instant communication and rapid cooperation. But it also enables rapid contagion—of viruses, malware, or dangerous misinformation.
Our country faces the most challenging geopolitical environment since the end of the Second World War.
This is something unfamiliar to most living Australians. Most of us have been lucky to grow up in a world and a region of increasing prosperity and democratisation. This is no longer the case.
Authoritarian powers are doing everything they can to undermine democratic systems. They wield tools of coercion, disinformation, and political interference that create threats for Australians, even when we are at home.
Great power competition is back. And while some global conflicts and events can feel remote to us here in Australia, in the coming fifty years, the world’s security future will play out right in our region.
As always with global competition, technology is at the centre of the action. Many national security issues we face today rely on technologies that didn’t exist twenty years ago. And emerging technologies like AI and quantum computing are creating still new generation of threats. Think about the impact of AI and machine learning on cyber security alone.
These are the human and geopolitical dimensions of the challenge. But don’t forget that this future will unfold in the context of a climate which is warming much faster than even fairly radical climate scientists had predicted would occur a generation ago.
Changes to the weather are significant—we can see it, we can feel it. The implications in the coming decades, whatever we do to mitigate global warming, will be vast. Changing agricultural patterns, serious implications for land use, and of course, more persistent, more frequent, more catastrophic natural disasters.
Just consider the impact of rising sea levels alone. As sea levels rise, coastal borders in South-East Asia are being reshaped. Many millions of people in our region alone will be displaced by climate change.
When you put it all together, our national security environment clearly contains much challenge, and is evolving quickly.
I also feel, perhaps paradoxically, hugely optimistic about our country’s future in the face of these difficulties.
If I could pick a country in the world that will thrive in the coming decades, I would pick Australia. I have huge confidence in us, and that comes from what I see when I look back.
Australia is one of the most resilient, prosperous, democratic countries in the world. Part of the reason for this is the way we have responded to crisis and challenge. When the going gets tough, Australians are at their best. We are innovative, we are strong, we are practical, we are united.
And we have a hell of a lot that’s worth protecting.
How our government thinks about national security
So let me speak now a bit about how our government thinks about protecting our country in the face of what is to come.
I know you would all observe this, but one undeniable feature of our government is the seriousness with which we approach this task. We are relentlessly focused on our job of preparing Australia for what is ahead. That is the clear direction and priority of our Prime Minister, Anthony Albanese.
You see it in Defence, where Richard Marles is building world-leading partnerships and new capabilities to defend Australia—whether that’s through AUKUS, the advanced technological capabilities of ASD, or highly skilled ADF personnel deployed overseas.
You see that in Foreign Affairs, where Penny Wong is a global powerhouse, lifting Australia’s reputation around the world, and dexterously leading and managing issues in a way that is helping us, every day, realise Australia’s aspirations for a peaceful and prosperous 21st century.
You see that in Mark Dreyfus, our Attorney General, who drives critical, creative work in law enforcement—and who is an essential partner for me in Home Affairs, on issues such as foreign interference, cyber security and counter terrorism.
National security is not a political plaything for our government. It is a sacred task, our most important task, and we treat it as such.
The Home Affairs mission
Now let me speak a bit about the role in Home Affairs in delivering Australia’s national security.
Home Affairs has a dual mission: to help build our nation, and to help protect it.
The national security conversation can sometimes take on a very defensive posture, there are good reasons for that. One of the wonderful things about Home Affairs is that a big part of our job is thinking about building national strength and resilience.
Nation building is about prosperity—creating a country where every Australian can achieve their full potential. It’s about building unity and social cohesion. It’s about building sovereign capabilities – I’m thinking about our major policy programs in cyber security, critical infrastructure, intelligence.
And of course, we see it in the management of our migration system.
Migration is central to Australia’s story. We are the most successful multicultural country in the world, and my electorate teems with life because of the contribution of generations of migrants.
We arrived in office to find a system that wasn’t working for our country. A major review by Dr Martin Parkinson said a 10 year rebuild of that system was necessary, and that is what we are undertaking.
Out of his work, we developed a 10-year Migration Strategy for our country. Our goal is a smaller, better planned, more strategic migration program. I’d urge you to have a look at the document – believe it or not, this is the first time Australia has ever had a written strategy for our migration program.
I have a simple perspective on migration reform. We face a lot of challenges into the future. We can’t afford to have an important national system of growth and innovation and prosperity for our country not firing on all cylinders. That’s what our migration strategy is about – getting this system working for the country.
I’ve spoken there about some of our work in building our nation. Our second big focus is on protecting our nation.
Home Affairs plays a central role in identifying, managing and disrupting the full field of national security threats. Natural disasters, climate change, pandemics, cyber incidents, foreign interference, espionage, terrorism and extreme ideologies of division and hate.
Let me speak about some of our big programs of work.
The Department plays a leading role in Commonwealth border security.
The men and women of the ABF work around the clock to protect our borders. This includes the long-standing policies of Operation Sovereign Borders (OSB)—deterrence and disruption, detection and interception, and regional processing and resettlement.
It’s the Department’s job to disrupt the people smugglers who manipulate vulnerable people and abuse the migration system. It is key priority for our government, and for me personally.
The task of managing our borders is very significant. Australia has 34,000 km of coastline. Every year, Border Force examines over 26 million packages and manages the movement of over 32 million people across our borders.
Home Affairs leads cyber security and critical infrastructure policy.
Cyber is central to almost every national security challenge we face. Through our work in cyber security, we help safeguard the central nervous system of the 21st century—data, communications and the Internet of Things.
We have seen some significant attacks on our country in the last few years – Optus, Medibank and DP World to name a few.
But to be honest, what we have seen so far is really the tip of the iceberg. What we are thinking about and preparing for is large-scale attacks on critical infrastructure – our energy grid, transport systems, water, hospitals.
Prime Minister Albanese decided in 2022 for the first time to create a Cabinet Minister for Cyber Security. Since our government was elected, cyber security has become absolutely core business not just for Home Affairs but for the whole Australian Government.
We have made some important strides in this last two years. This has included a world-leading new 2023 Cyber Security Strategy, putting Australia on track to becoming a world leader in cyber security by 2030.
We have created a new position of the National Cyber Coordinator and appointed Lieutenant General Michelle McGuinness, to that role.
This has been a hugely important change for government, helping us lift cyber capabilities across the Commonwealth and across the country, and help manage significant cyber incidents. Lieutenant General McGuinness is also running national cyber exercises to pressure-test our critical infrastructure.
Right now, we’re working closely with industry leaders to co-design landmark cyber security legislation—including the establishment of IoT security standards, ransomware reporting, and a Cyber Incident Review Board.
Through ASIO, we are also tackling foreign interference and espionage. As you all know, the Director-General of Security has, since 2022, consistently identified these two threats as Australia’s principal security concerns.
Foreign interference and espionage threaten the things we value most about our country—our social cohesion, our trusted democracy, and our freedom of thought and expression. Home Affairs works closely with ASIO to inform communities about foreign interference and help protect those who are vulnerable to foreign interference—including our politicians, academics, industry, and diaspora communities.
While we are defending Australia from foreign interference, we’re also running extensive counter-terrorism operations. While the terror threat level remains at ‘possible’, we are vigilant. Our counter-terrorism teams are working tirelessly to disrupt extremist ideologies and terror plots, they are at it every day, of every week, working to protect our community.
Finally, we need to strengthen democracy and social cohesion. Democracy is at the heart of our national values, and so it’s vital that we protect our democratic systems. This is especially critical as we face democratic backsliding around the world.
Social cohesion is central to the Australian way of life. It underpins our wellbeing, our trust in others, and our confidence in public institutions. The more connected Australians feel to their own citizenship, to their own country, and to each other, the safer we will be.
Part of helping the Australian Government deliver on our national security mission is having a Home Affairs Department that is fit for purpose. And I want to conclude my remarks by addressing this one with you really directly.
Working with the men and women of Home Affairs is the honour of my life. They are amazing people: patriots to their core, deeply committed to serving their communities. They are practical, action-oriented, experienced and intelligent. We develop policy, and make laws. But we also deliver. And we are proud of that.
I’m thinking about the Border Force team, who analyse packages coming into our country, using their smarts and intuition as well as the latest technologies. Every day, they go to work and stop drugs or guns being imported illegally. Protecting our community, every day.
I’m thinking of the fine, clever people who work with us on upgrading cyber security capabilities across the Commonwealth, and in incident response to protect Australians when things go wrong.
I’m thinking of the visa processing staff, who exercise incredibly important responsibilities for Australia, helping facilitate fast passage for the skilled people and family members we want to travel here, and preventing those who we do not.
I’m thinking of the counter-terrorism experts, of ASIO and other agencies, who have helped save Australia from at least 21 violent terrorist incidents over the previous decade. You will not find more knowledgeable and dedicated people anywhere in our country.
I want to thank all of these staff, how incredibly important your work is to our nation.
These staff also know, better than anyone, that we inherited a Home Affairs Department facing some real challenges. These problems have been verified through a number of independent reviews that we have issued over the past 18 months.
So along with the ambitious policy reform agenda we have brought to government, there is much diligent work occurring behind the scenes, trying to rebuild a Home Affairs Department that’s fit for the future.
Our response has been extensive, involving significant policy reform, structural reform, and real new investments in capability. In the two years we have been in office, more than $2.6 billion additional dollars have been invested in Home Affairs programs and capabilities.
Home Affairs is stronger than ever, but there is still a lot more work to do.
That’s why when Stephanie Foster was appointed as the Secretary of Home Affairs five months ago, my first request to her was to address these issues in the organisation.
We are working to rebuild the department. It is a significant task. My role as Minister is resetting the mission of Home Affairs to focus our work on the security challenges of the future.
Secretary Foster is transforming the organisation itself: rebuilding a culture with integrity at its core, addressing organisational issues that have been really well publicised, and making Home Affairs an employer of choice. Where young people such as the students here at the National Security College dream of working.
Every step of this journey is in service of our dual mission—to build our nation and secure our future.
It is critical work, one in which today and every day the national security community, and the National Security College here at ANU, are integral and valued partners.
Thank you.
