Evergreen reminder:

Just for context, yesterday Tony Burke introduced legislation which would give the government power to deport people classified as ‘non-citizens’ (meaning their asylum application has been denied, or they have been stripped of their visa) who can not be deported to the country of birth, to a third country like Nauru. Australia does not deport people back to countries where the person may face torture or death. But Nauru can.

The parliament session has begun and just like yesterday, it started with the home affairs minister Tony Burke introducing new legislation. This one seems to broaden surveillance of telecommunications;

You can find the bill here

It also appears to be retrospective:

1) Subsection 45B(9A) of the Surveillance Devices Act 2004 as 3 inserted by this Schedule applies in relation to the use, recording or 4 communication of protected network activity warrant information 5
after the commencement of this Schedule, whether that information 6 was obtained or generated before or after that commencement.

And it changes the definition of “lawfully accessed information” (the current definition can be found here)

Repeal the definition, substitute: 7 lawfully accessed information means information obtained by 8
accessing a stored communication otherwise than in contravention 9 of subsection 108(1), but does not include:10 (a) information obtained by accessing a stored communication 11 under a section 31A authorisation; or 12 (b) information obtained in accordance with an international 13 production order (within the meaning of Schedule 1)

So is it an intelligence failure?

Anthony Albanese:

No, in fact, this is a rather extraordinary intelligence success by Asia and the Australian Federal Police in today’s world where things are often done on the dark web, and where you have encrypted messages, cryptocurrencies, transfers, you have a complex situation here, and it’s an extraordinary effort by ASIO and the AFP to be able to trace the chain of command, if you like, right back to the IRGC, through to the people who perpetrated these criminal acts.

Anthony Albanese is speaking to ABC radio Melbourne, where he is asked how Iran did what ASIO and the government are accusing it of.

I’m reluctant to go into too much detail about how that occurred, but what the intelligence agencies and the AFP have been able to do is to trace the connections between people and how it occurred from overseas right through to Australia, using criminal elements here in Australia to engage in what is an incredibly dangerous act of aggression orchestrated by a foreign nation on Australian soil.

Why does Anthony Albanese think Iran did this?

There are two motivations, clearly, anti-Semitism, that’s very much a part of the ideology of the leadership of Iran. But secondly, also, it’s clearly aimed at disharmony in Australia, about it’s an attack on our social fabric, on and on who we are. And so it’s very clear from the advice that we received from ASIO that both the Lewis Continental Kitchen in Sydney and the Adass Israel synagogue there in Melbourne were arisen from Iran, from the Iran Revolutionary Guard, and that is been working in concert with criminal elements, both overseas and here domestically.

Penny Wong also spoke to the Nine Network:

Q: There are, from what I can glean, more than 3,000 Aussies in Iran. You may have a more specific number. It’s difficult to conjure a more threatening environment for them right now.

Wong:

It is, and we’ve expressed publicly our concern about Australians going to Iran. I have said to Iranian Australians, please do not travel to Iran. Iran is do not travel. We now have no embassy there, no Australian base, diplomats to assist you. We have, obviously, concerns about people travelling. So, my message is, if you are in Iran, you should come home.

Q: Any further help?

Wong:

And if you’re thinking of going to Iran, please don’t. Well, our capacity, Karl, to provide assistance in Iran is limited. And now we have no staff from the Department of Foreign Affairs in Tehran and that’s public. But, you know, we had to make that decision.

Q:: Tehran has responded overnight saying they didn’t do it, saying you have aligned yourselves with Zionist policies. It’s an assault on diplomacy. How do you respond?

Wong:

Well, what I would say is this Australian Government is not going to countenance a foreign regime engaging in activities in Australia which are not just about sowing division, they are that. But they are also violent acts which harm or have the potential to harm Australians. It’s not acceptable.

Q: There are clearly spies and operatives in Australia aligned with extreme ideologies. Was this a security breach, do you believe? I think Aussies have a right to feel a little uneasy about everything.

Wong:

What I’d say to Australians is we have security agencies, we have the Australian Federal Police, we have ASIO, we have an intelligence community which is very focused on making sure you are kept safe. And the government has taken unprecedented action in response to what those agencies have found.

Q: Will you take any further action?

Wong:

Look, these are big steps. These are unprecedented steps. No government has taken such a step. We thought it was the right time, given that the actions, as I said, crossed a very clear line.

On Michaelia Cash’s performance, Wong says:

I would like to through this clearly. First in relation to the IRGC they are already sanctioned. I have put more sanctions on them. In fact we have put more sanctions and taken more decisive action, stronger action against Iran than ever occurred while she was Attorney- General or while the Government of which she was a part was in government. So, that’s the first point. The second in relation to the Ambassador, yes, he has made anti-Semitic remarks which are unacceptable. And we dealt with that. The reason we have expelled him now is because the Iranian regime has crossed a line. The Iranian regime has crossed a line and that is why we are taking the unprecedented action we are taking.

Penny Wong also spoke on the same program and was asked about the expulsion of the Iranian ambassador and said:

We took from the ASIO assessment a very clear understanding that is we have a foreign government who was working to engage in and orchestrate violent attacks on Australians on Australian soil.

So we have made an unprecedented decision which is to expel an Ambassador for the first time since World War II. Now, we retain diplomatic relations with a lot of countries we don’t agree with it. We do it for our interests and also because of Australians in those countries as well as the capacity to engage with them. This crossed a line. That is why we’ve taken this unprecedented decision. We’ve also closed… suspended our operations in Tehran and removed Australian personnel there.

Michaelia Cash though, has found her new dogwhistle:

That is pathetic. That is a pathetic response, Clare. two and a half years ago we could’ve stood together and listed this organisation. Instead, we have the Islamic Republic of Iran, they don’t share the same values as us, they seek to kill people on Australian soil.

You and your government have a lot answer today. Penny Wong, Mark Dreyfus, Clare O’Neill. You were warned. The Coalition, the Iranian community here in Australia, told you this This is the letter and you said no. You have some serious explaining to do today. Yes, we will stand with you, ring on the legislation. Enough is enough. Let’s list these people for what they are, terrorist, who have sought to kill Australians on Australian soil.

Israel killed an Australian aid worker and Michaelia Cash has been full throated in her support for Israel, including pushing back against the largely symbolic recognition of Palestine. And let’s not pretend that the IRGC would need to have been a terrorist organisation for Australian security agencies to be watching them. It’s literally what their job is. To spy on what they consider threats, and that includes those not officially listed under terrorist registers.

Michaelia Cash is really leaning into her hard right conservative era. She spent a good chunk of her morning ‘debate’ with Clare O’Neil on the Seven network harking back to two-and-a-half years ago when the Coalition got a bee in its bonnet about the IRGC and wanted it listed as a terrorist organisation (something it didn’t do during its preceding nine years in government) and O’Neil, the then home affairs minister and Mark Dreyfus, the then attorney-general, said no.

Because you tend to need a reason to do these things. And the IRGC is also essentially the Iranian government so it’s a bit of a step. The government feels it has that reason now because of the “primarily ASIO” investigation that linked the IRGC to attacks in Australia (I highlight the ‘primarily’ Asio investigation that Albanese mentioned yesterday, because it suggests there was another agency/intelligence involved. It was a joint AFP investigation, but I don’t think that is what Albanese was referring to, just personally)

Anyways, Cash was on a tear which seems kinda pointless, given that her leader has just sent out an ‘we’re all in this together’ statement and O’Neil says:

I think that was a rude and unworthy performance from Michaelia Cash there. I have a really strong view that when our country comes under aggression and violence from a foreign power that our politicians should stand together and fight back. I try to respect the work of politicians in Canberra, my personal view is that this is not the time for politics. I think it is grossly inappropriate. I think it is grossly inappropriate. I think it is really important that the major parties in particular work together on matters like this. That is usually the approach that we see from the Coalition. Michaelia has taken a different approach that is their business.