Those in the spy and security community aren't for most part panicking about the creation of a super-portfolio like Britain's Home Office.
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Dutton to head super department
Not everyone in the Liberal Party is happy with the idea of Peter Dutton leading a super portfolio including ASIO, the AFP and Border Force.
But nor are they quite sure why there's a need for it. Until we see the detail there are a lot of old hands and current practitioners on the coalface who are wondering what is wrong with the current system.
ASIO, the Australian Federal Police and other agencies involved will be watching to see whether there is any encroachment on the way they do their business – and given the recent track record of stopping terror attacks, they seem to be doing their business rather well.
For them, continued operational independence will be the red line.
Ric Smith, a former Defence Department head who conducted a homeland and border security review for the Rudd government in 2008, said it was critical that there be no changes to the legislation that governs the agencies as statutory authorities and that they not be folded into government departments.
Agencies were sharing information well now, he said. The biggest issue they faced is the need for IT systems to be upgraded so that classified information could be better shared. That cost money and would not be solved by creating a super-portfolio with one minister at the top.
"Just what would be gained from doing this isn't clear to me," he said.
That was the general view among former intelligence officers.
On a point of principle there have also been concerns raised that having the Attorney-General sign ASIO warrants ensures that he or she as the nation's first law officer balances the rights of Australians under the rule of law against the security imperative being presented by the security agency in the warrant. That would change under a Home Affairs model, though other safeguards are available.
Malcolm Turnbull has made the point repeatedly that he will not "set and forget" national security – that the government needs to stay ahead of evolutions in threats such as terrorism and foreign influence.
That's fine, but if he is to persuade Australians of his overhaul, he will need to match very specifically the merits of change to the evolutions in threats.
Otherwise this risks looking like action for action's sake – or worse, for politics.
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