By Stuart Russell
Individuals with a gripe against society and far right-wing groups pose the most serious security threat to the Sydney Olympics, the former deputy-general of ASIO has warned.
Such social malcontents could strike almost anywhere and, along with far right groups, pose a greater threat than terrorism to the 2000 games, according to Gerard Walsh.
This warning comes on the heels of many months of anti-government protests across Australia, and is part of a concerted campaign by government to intimidate lawful anti-government dissent. The far right is not the real target.
Individuals with critical views — potentially millions of people in Australia — become added to the list of those who are perceived "threats" to Olympics security.
Armed camp
There is every indication that government is willing to suspend civil liberties and transform Sydney into an armed encampment on the pretext of avoiding such threats. Last November it was revealed that NSW and Britain will share advanced anti-terrorist technologies used against the IRA to provide enhanced security at the Sydney games.
Under the agreement, police will share law enforcement specialist staff and advanced technological equipment.
As well, an elite Australian Defence Force commando unit, with anti-terrorist capability, of about 700 soldiers is being planned. The minister for defence has stated that this new unit will play a key role in security protection for the games.
In response to the waves of protests and strikes in 1996, the Howard government is now setting the scene for a major assault on the right to demonstrate. It is increasingly likely that the government will simply ban all forms of protest before and during the 2000 games.
If the main threats to Olympics security are those with critical views, ASIO and other security agencies will now have to keep an eye on the tens of thousands of individuals who have protested in the streets over the past year against the Howard government's policies.
However, to target such individuals would be to violate ASIO's own legal mandate. Under that law, ASIO cannot target individuals or groups who engage in lawful advocacy, protest or dissent. Therefore, the latest pronouncements by the former deputy-general of ASIO indicate that ASIO is seeking emergency legislation to be able to clamp down on all potential Olympics "security threats".
Walsh's fear of social malcontents is misguided at best, since there is no empirical connection between such individuals and a propensity to engage in criminal or terrorist activity.
With few exceptions, political dissidents in this country have engaged in nothing more than lawful and peaceful protest. To suggest otherwise is to engage in scare-mongering.
Since we have not yet arrived at the Orwellian society ASIO and the Howard government would prefer, it is quite true that they are incapable of targeting all those who are critical of government.
But if security forces cannot handle the job, will the responsibility for alerting ASIO be devolved to society at large? Will a "Dob in Your Neighbourhood Misfit Hotline" be established between now and 2000? Will we all be encouraged to spy on our neighbours, workmates and friends, with the view to reporting social critics?
Our civil liberties, the right to privacy in particular, become increasingly jeopardised the more this hysteria against "anti-social elements" increases.
Window dressing
But while we should take extremely seriously the potential crackdown on dissent, ASIO's supposed fear of far right groups lacks credibility. It is true that in its most recent, highly censored, annual report, ASIO stated that "the recent neo-nazi element and covert extreme nationalist militias have captured public attention in recent times through their willingness to threaten violence in order to further their political agendas".
However, there is no indication that ASIO is seriously targeting far right individuals and organisations. The concern about the far right is mere window dressing and part of the justification for continuing its existence.
After the end of the Cold War, ASIO was forced to find and create new targets, since the Communist bogey man, its principal raison d'être, no longer existed.
And so, suddenly, ASIO became "alarmed" about the far right, economic, scientific and technological espionage, transnational crime and a few other areas which it largely ignored in the past. (ASIO's very real targeting of economic espionage in particular demonstrates that it acts in the interests of the capitalist class, rather than in defence of some nebulous "national security".)
ASIO is not sincere about cracking down on the far right simply because it is on the same ideological wavelength as the Howard government. Howard's hands-off policy in response to the racist ranting of Pauline Hanson demonstrates that taking on the far right is not on his agenda. Such individuals and groups are far too valuable in creating acceptance for his own right-wing agenda.
Computer encryption
Walsh also expressed concern about the widespread use of computer encryption (which protects data from tapping), which could hamper the security forces' targeting of "fringe groups". Western governments have been deeply concerned for some time now about the use of such encryption, and attempts to outlaw it have been made in the US.
Walsh's pronouncement is setting the stage for the government to outlaw computer encryption, which would be a major attack on the right to privacy of all Australians. But his alarm about encryption confirms that ASIO and other security agencies are already monitoring electronic communications by progressive and left groups. Any attempts to ban computer encryption should be actively resisted.
As the attacks at the 1996 Atlanta Olympic Games and by David Kang against Prince Charles in Sydney in 1994 demonstrate, security services are spectacularly incapable of preventing serious acts of violence. The disinformation campaigns, surveillance, illegalities, harassment, infiltrations, disruptions and violations of democratic rights by ASIO over the years have completely discredited it.
Despite what ASIO may say, it is still quite obviously involved in the widespread political surveillance of the trade unions, the left and Aboriginal and student groups, even though "subversion" is not a criminal offence. ASIO acts in a clandestine and largely unaccountable fashion, mostly preoccupied with those seeking to challenge capitalist dominance, which is hardly a crime. ASIO is beyond reform and should be abolished.