Australian Border Protection plans to expand telco surveillance

Australian Customs and Border Protection Service (ACBPS) is enthusiastic about the prospect of mandatory data-retention legislation passing in Australia, stating that it would likely use intercept powers and powers to access stored data more frequently should the legislation pass.

Since the last election, the powers held by Customs and Border Protection have increased significantly as the government implemented its policy of attempting to stop the flow of asylum seekers coming to Australia by boat. The department operates in a high level of secrecy in Operation Sovereign Borders, with many incidents going unreported due to the government declining to reveal so-called "on-water matters".

As a result, many of the reports about boat arrivals and incidents on offshore detention centres have been provided to journalists from sources close to the incidents, including from asylum-seeker advocates with contacts on the ground in places such as Papua New Guinea. It was revealed on Thursday that the government referred journalists who have written up the reports of incidents involving asylum seekers to the Australian Federal Police (AFP) for investigation into where they obtained their information.