Finance Minister Katy Gallagher insists funding for national security agencies has increased under Labor but has dodged questions about whether Federal Police have enough resources to properly conduct counter-terrorism operations.
Following the deadly Bondi Beach attacks, The Nightly revealed warnings from the Australian Federal Police Association last month about “chronic and worsening shortages” of counter-terrorism officers.
In a letter to Senator Gallagher, who is also the Public Service Minister, AFPA president Alex Caruana argued: “the men and women of the AFP stand on the front line every day, and they deserve the resources required to keep doing so effectively”.
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Responding to the revelations on Wednesday, the Finance Minister argued the Albanese Government had “worked really hard” to address funding shortfalls across defence, foreign affairs and intelligence agencies since coming to office.
“We consider these matters at NSC (National Security Committee), obviously as you expect, and we have increased funding, you know, that’s the reality,” she said while releasing the Mid-Year Economic and Fiscal Outlook alongside Treasurer Jim Chalmers.
“Where agencies have come … we have worked with them to understand what the pressures are, whether it be in defence, some of the work in (Foreign Affairs Minister Penny Wong)’s space or in ASIO and those other agencies — the AFP as well in counter-terrorism funding – we have provided additional support,” Senator Gallagher said.
“The pressures in this case are increasing, not decreasing. That’s why when you look at defence and national security, it is one of those big areas where we need to continue to work with agencies to invest appropriately and we do.
“Obviously, across government, there are not any situations where you don’t do that due diligence, we have to do that, and we will continue to do so, and we take the views of the AFPA as seriously as well.”
The Minister added that it was her “day-to-day job” to work with the Finance Department to assess appropriate investments for various agencies and apply “due diligence”.
Shadow Home Affairs Minister Jonno Duniam has demanded the Albanese Government “must step up”, and claims “what we are continually seeing from this government is agencies that are not supported”.
“The AFP themselves commissioned a report in May of 2024 about the increasing workload,” Senator Duniam tells The Nightly.
“This should have rung alarm bells in the Minister for Home Affairs’ office. However, these reports indicate that these concerns, including those by the Federal Police Association, have fallen on deaf ears.”
“The Government must take these concerns seriously to ensure that our AFP officers are supported and their workload is sustainable. For example, reports of an officer having 20 or 30 cases to look after is unsustainable and dangerous,” he added.
In Wednesday’s MYEFO the Albanese Government revealed it would provide an undisclosed amount of additional funding for the AFP over the next five years to “strengthen its Information and Communication Technology (ICT) capabilities”.
“Partial funding for this measure will be held in the Contingency Reserve pending the completion of assurance reviews for the AFP’s ICT capabilities. The AFP will partially meet the cost of this measure from within existing resources.”
According to the MYEFO document, “the financial implications of elements of this measure are not for publication due to national security sensitivities”.
Almost $200 million in additional funding will also go to the AFP over the next two years “to continue to develop capabilities to provide protective security for Submarine Rotational Force‑West at HMAS Stirling,” but the money will come from the Defence budget.
