Maritime security landscape set for change
by Ernie Davitt, National Affairs Editor, ASM
From preparing for the impact of climate change and rising sea levels, to heightened Federal and State law enforcement presence to protect our marine resources, the port and maritime security landscape in Australia is poised for major change.
The review of Homeland Security arrangements by former Defence Secretary, Ric Smith, looked into all aspects of non-defence national security, including the maritime and aviation sectors.
The Federal Government has been coming under increasing pressure to establish a Coast Guard organisation as a single central body with responsibility for all aspects of civil maritime security.
At the same time the Australian Customs Service has been beefed up with more vessels, a huge increase in the number of armed officers and a stronger presence in shipping ports with more officers and improved facilities such as container X-ray equipment.
Australia was recently given exclusive economic rights over an extra 2.5 square kilometers of seabed around Australia, an area bigger than the State of Western Australia.
With untold riches now added to the national resources inventory, Australia will have a major task ahead of it in terms of protecting its sovereignty over the new areas.
One possible way of doing this relatively cheaply involves the Federal Government looking into the use of unmanned aerial vehicles for surveillance and border protection in northern Australia.
Closer to shore, State Police Services are equipping themselves with bigger and better patrol craft, including seagoing vessels to protect ports and to provide greater counter-terrorism response capacity.
Queensland recently ordered two 22-metre craft and NSW added a 32-metre vessel to its growing fleet which now includes two 22-metre vessels and seven new 16-metre craft.
All people now working in ports are required to carry identity cards and foreign ships visiting Australian ports have to report to Customs beforehand and provide information about their cargo and crew members.
Asked how the new arrangements at ports were operating, the Executive Officer of Ports Australia, Sue Blackwell, told ASM her organisation was well satisfied with existing security arrangements as the emphasis was now shifting to improving national infrastructure, including at shipping ports.
“The focus of this government has now changed to infrastructure development which is a very important matter for ports around the country, as well as road and rail,” she said.
“The previous Howard Government was focused on anti-terrorism measures.”
The focus on infrastructure had resulted in less security policy development coming out of Canberra. But that was not a bad thing ‘because the whole maritime security regime has settled down very well.’
“We have not seen any incidents at Australian ports so it is arguable that the regime that is in place is effective and working and that the preventative measures have been successful,” she said.
“That has kind of leaves people in the Office of Transport Security (OTS) in a policy vacuum which I think they should not be in any rush to fill because that would be policy for the sake of policy which would be bad policy.
“It is pretty much a new team there.
“They are focusing on learning about the current environment, getting out and speaking to people and taking a very pragmatic approach to some of the events and incidents that occur in ports that are not related to terrorism in any way.
“We are seeing some developments in the area of customs screening, where we are seeing some pragmatism coming out.
"We are seeing a review of the maritime security identification card regime.”
There was now a willingness to look at ports on a port by port basis rather impose a uniformity handed down from above, Ms Blackwell said.
“Each port, each stakeholder and their environment is quite different based on the location and the commodities moved through those ports, the shipping lines and nature of the ships that call there, the age of the ships that call,” she said.
“So there is increased awareness that not just one size fits all.”
In one of the latest developments, former adviser to two Labor Defence ministers and Visiting Fellow at the Strategic and Defence Studies Centre, Australian National University, Derek Woolner, said the Coast Guard could evolve from the current Border Protection Command.
It should be directly responsible to a Minister for the assessment of intelligence, planning and implementation of operations and future improvements to maritime border security, he said.
Mr Woolner’s report Policing Our Ocean Domain: Establishing an Australian Coast Guard, said the Government would widen the options for developing the nation’s maritime expertise through personnel training, capacity available for maritime research, cooperation with regional coastguards and development of plans for the use of Coast Guard capabilities in time of conflict.
The report follows a string of recent reports warning of the impact of climate change and rising sea levels not only on the marine environment but also on cities and human settlements around the seaside.
The thrust of the reports will require policy responses from State and Federal governments about how to protect populations and infrastructure, including ports.