Off the wire
• Albanian gov't increases pensions  • Urgent: Tim Kaine accepts Democratic nomination for vice president  • Chinese shares open lower Thursday  • China Hushen 300 index futures open mixed Thursday  • China treasury bond futures open higher Thursday  • Roundup: Peru's president-elect urges new cabinet to bolster ties with grassroots  • Market exchange rates in China -- July 28  • Chinese yuan strengthens to 6.6597 against USD Thursday  • Bach: Rio can solve problems before Games  • Australian businesses urged to make most of "golden age" of trade with China  
You are here: 　 Home

Australia launches new intelligence agency to "stay ahead" of changing terror threat

Xinhua, July 28, 2016 Adjust font size:

The Australian government has on Thursday launched the Australian Criminal Intelligence Commission (ACIC), an intelligence agency designed to "stay ahead" of and disrupt any threat to national security.

Australia's justice minister, and minister assisting the prime minister on counter-terrorism, Michael Keenan launched the agency on Thursday, and said it would work with Australia's existing counter intelligence bodies to ensure Australia has the resources to "keep our communities safe."

He said the formation of ACIC was "critical" to the future of Australia's national security, as terror-related threats were "rapidly changing."

"We know that the national security threat to our nation and globally is unprecedented," Keenan said in a statement on Thursday.

"Since Sept. 12, 2014, when the national terrorism threat level was raised, 44 people have been charged as a result of 16 counter terrorism operations around Australia -- that's over half of all terrorism related charges since 2001."

"This new agency is critical to the future of Australia's national security because it is vital our law enforcement and protection agencies have accurate information and intelligence to respond to immediate threats."

According to Keenan, ACIC has been active since July 1, and he said it had already delivered valuable information on organized crime, as well as the movements of foreign fighters and potential terror targets.

"The ACIC will close information gaps between law enforcement agencies and link intelligence data to help identify links between organized crime and national security investigations, including foreign fighters, terrorists, extremists and their supporters, to provide a broader picture of imminent threats," Keenan said in the statement.

"This is already paying dividends. Since the ACIC commenced operations on July 1 it has delivered intelligence on terrorism, financial crimes and criminal gangs, and worked to thwart the illicit drug market -- collaborating with partner agencies to seize more than 280 kilograms of methamphetamine worth a street value of at least 200 million U.S. dollars in Victoria, Western Australia and South Australia." Endit