Australia’s 2024 Independent Intelligence Review: opportunities and challenges: Views from The Strategist
This report covers the scope and purpose of the 2024 Intelligence Review, providing valuable background to the review and to the fundamental challenges and opportunities facing Australian intelligence in the decade ahead. It offers a particular emphasis surrounding the ‘how’ of intelligence now and into the future.
NSW Premier to consider tightening knife crime laws
NSW Premier Chris Minns may amend knife crime legislation for the second time within 12 months following the horrendous spate of stabbings in Sydney in recent days. It is understood both attackers had a history of knife related incidents, with the teenage attacker being on a good behaviour bond over knife possession at a station in November last year and in 2020 where he was found with a blade at school.
eSafety commissioner orders X and Meta to remove violent videos following Sydney church stabbing
Meta and X have been told to remove violent and distressing videos and imagery of the stabbing of a Christian leader. The eSafety commissioner, Julie Inman Grant, stated that X and Meta had been issued with notices to remove material within 24 hours that depicted “gratuitous or offensive violence with a high degree of impact or detail”, with the companies facing potential fines if they fail to comply.
What constitutes a terrorist attack? What is Australia's current terror threat level? And who decides those things?
ASIO Director-General Mike Burgess was asked why the stabbing at a Sydney church was ruled a terrorist attack, while the Bondi Junction stabbing where one man and five women were killed in Bondi Junction was not. What constitutes a terror act is often a point of contention as there is no universally agreed upon definition of terrorism. Mr Burgess said the authorities would need indications of "information or evidence" that suggest the Bondi Junction attacks were religiously motivated or ideologically motivated before labelling it an act of terror, they say they do not have such indications.
Report: IT leaders fear imminent cyber threat to elections across the globe
A new report on cyber warfare vectors has revealed that disruptions to a raft of democratic elections in 2024 are “imminent” and that some IT leaders are already reporting such attacks are underway. Seventy-six nations will face elections in 2024, and the report found that the impact of widespread cyber-attacks on electoral processes could cripple economies and entire social systems.
Australia: Canberra Unveils New Transformative National Defence Strategy
Australian Defence Minister Richard Marles unveiled the country's 2024 National Defence Strategy, which highlights a stronger navy and improved long-range strike capabilities as policy cornerstones going forward. Australia's military budget will increase by $3.7 billion over the next four years and is projected to reach more than $64.4 billion (AU$100 billion) by 2033, and the strategy overtly references Chinese coercion in the Taiwan Strait and the South China Sea.