JOINT PRESS CONFERENCE WITH MINISTER FOR HOME AFFAIRS, BRENDAN O’CONNOR AND AFP COMMISSIONER, TONY NEGUS
Monday, 7 September 2009
Blue Room, Parliament House, Canberra
Subject: New AFP Commissioner
McCLELLAND: We have obviously given more extensive introductions to Tony Negus, the new Commissioner of the Australian Federal Police upstairs, including the Prime Minister's remarks, but essentially, Tony has given 27 years of dedicated service to the Australian Federal Police.
He has served in many capacities from on the beat to very senior management positions. He has extensive academic qualifications, and has been involved extensively in all key areas of the work of the Australian Federal Police from hi-tech crime, organised crime, counter-terrorism, to a whole range of local policing issues, all of which is extensive and invaluable experience.
I know the Minister for Home Affairs, Brendan O'Connor, would like to make a couple of remarks before handing over to Tony.
O'CONNOR: Thanks Attorney.
I would just like to agree with the Attorney-General. This is a very important and significant appointment for the Australian Federal Police and it was a view of the Government that Commissioner Negus was the best applicant amongst a very strong field.
Therefore, I congratulate Commissioner Negus and I look forward to working with him on the major challenges ahead.
I'll now pass over to Commissioner Negus.
NEGUS: Thank you, Minister and good afternoon.
Upstairs, a short time ago, at the swearing in ceremony, I made a short speech during which I said that the primary focus of the AFP under my Commissionership would be to protect the Australian community against the threat of terrorism and also to, as much as humanly possible, impact upon the consequences of organised crime on the Australian community.
I am happy to take any questions from you from this point forward.
JOURNALIST: [Inaudible]
NEGUS: Well, I think the circumstances with Mick Keelty were very much different. But, shortly after September 11 and the Bali bombings, the AFP rose to prominence really in its fight offshore against terrorism. I suspect that coming with the job of being the Australian Federal Police Commissioner, will be a public profile, it's not one that I will seek too much but you'll see me from time to time on a number of issues.
JOURNALIST: [indistinct]…mention that the AFP had been established in '79 in the aftermath of the bombing. Given that that was a terrorist attack is it the case that the more things change, it's almost the more things stay the same, terrorism is still at the forefront of policing and security needs in Australia, can you explain how things have moved on from there [indistinct].
NEGUS: Well, all of the research tells us that terrorism is going to remain with us for a generation and certainly the threat of terrorism in Australia is something that we take very seriously. You only have to look back to the raids a few weeks ago, the alleged terrorist incidents being planned in this country, to see how much we must keep that at the front of our minds.
JOURNALIST: [Indistinct]…do you call it a “war on terror”?
NEGUS: Look, a lot's been said about it being called a war. I don't call it a war. I call it a fight against terrorism.
I think that we need to be vigilant. We need to make sure that we take this as seriously as possible and just because something doesn't happen for a year or two years doesn't mean that we can drop our guard in this regard.
So, I don't call it a war, but I certainly call it a fight against terrorism. We need to be present and ready for it.
JOURNALIST: Are you winning?
NEGUS: Look, it's a difficult thing to ever say we're winning. We're in a range of different fronts, trying to do a range of different things across Government and law enforcements will keep plugging away at that.
JOURNALIST: Are too many resources being allocated to counter-terrorism? And the second question is, what can you do to shake up the Northern Territory to complete their report [indistinct]?
NEGUS: On your first question, there have been significant resources allocated to the fight against terrorism, really, since September 11. The Government has provided the AFP with additional resources to do that but again when priorities come, when people's lives are at risk, then we must put our resources where they need to be and that is often against the fight against terrorism.
The AFP does a lot of work in the fight against organised crime and you'd be very much aware of last year the largest seizure of ecstasy ever in the world. That hasn't been called, the fight against organised crime, but certainly from any other angle it is an organised criminal activity and the allegations against those people in the court are very serious.
JOURNALIST: Attorney-General, will you instigate the judicial inquiry into the Allan Kessing issue?
MCCLELLAND: There are no plans to instigate an inquiry in respect to that matter.
I see reports in the media today, which, obviously I've read. I haven't had any further briefing, indeed until your question, any suggestion that there should be an inquiry, but there are no plans to hold such an inquiry.
JOURNALIST: Were you concerned by those reports [indistinct].
MCCLELLAND: It is difficult to form any judgement based on the media reports. That is not to demean the character of the media reporters, but I haven't seen details of that.
It is not the Government's role to investigate allegations of offences. It is the job of the AFP and ultimately they act on the advice of the Director of Public Prosecutions as to whether any law enforcement action is taken through the courts.
So, from my point of view, obviously the Government takes any allegations of this nature seriously but that's why we have independent agencies that are entrusted with investigations.
JOURNALIST: [Inaudible]
MCCLELLAND: I have been engaged in other matters this morning, most obviously preparing for the new AFP Commissioner.
JOURNALIST: [Inaudible]
NEGUS: I am aware of the reports this morning, but I've seen nothing more than that, so if the matter's referred to us we'd have a look at it.
JOURNALIST: Do you think that it's worth looking at again, given what you've seen?
NEGUS: It is not a matter for me to make those judgements based on a couple of media reports this morning, when, again, I've had other things to concentrate on.
JOURNALIST: [indistinct]…look into any of Allan Kessing's political contacts at the time?
NEGUS: Look, they are matters, really, that have been put before a court and if things were referred to us again, we'll re-examine those sorts of things.
JOURNALIST: Did the ALP supply Allan Kessing with a lawyer?
McCLELLAND: I am not aware of any such thing occurring. But again, there is no reason I would necessarily be informed about these things. I mean the ALP is not the Government of the Commonwealth of Australia.
JOURNALIST: [Inaudible]
NEGUS: We took on board the comments after the Haneef Affair and we think we've moved forward a long way from there. We are doing a range of different things to ensure that we are on the cutting edge of law enforcement. I would like to think going forward, this is an organisation that will be renowned for very much the right reasons.
JOURNALIST: Do you see your appointment as an opportunity for a fresh start particularly with your relationship with the media?
NEGUS: I don't think it needs to be freshened up particularly.
I mean there's a lot of good work that's done by the AFP. We keep going back to one particular incident, but broadly the AFP conducts itself extremely well. It is, I think, held in high regard by the public and the broader law enforcement community.
JOURNALIST: [Inaudible]
NEGUS: Certainly we're doing a lot of work around the high tech crime environment. We are looking to make sure that our members possess skills with dealing with the seizures of computers and the downloading of phones and data from other electrical communications devices in the field.
So that's an area, I think, that if it's an organisation, we've got to be very much on the front foot about.
The old days of investigating a fraud where everything is written down are very much long gone and these days with electronic transfers, money laundering and a whole range of other things, they need to have a different skills.
JOURNALIST: Mick Keelty came slightly undone with the then Government over what the Spanish bombings meant for terrorism. How do you see the role of the AFP and the Government working together on these issues and will there be times when you will all have to agree to disagree?
NEGUS: The Government provides directions to the AFP through the ministerial direction, areas for focus if you like. But the independent investigation of matters referred to the AFP is completely a matter for the AFP. Operational decisions are completely a matter of the AFP.
Now I would hope not, but sometimes there may be areas of disagreement, but again that goes with the statutory position that I hold as the Commissioner of Police.
JOURNALIST: [Inaudible]
NEGUS: Look I'm not prepared to comment on that. That's really a matter of Government policy. We have people in Afghanistan doing their best, fighting against narcotics, fighting against a range of different sorts of organised crime in that region.
JOURNALIST: [Inaudible]…SIEV 36 footage.
NEGUS: I personally haven't seen the footage, no. I only know what has been publicly put forward. It is a matter for the Coroner and the Northern Territory Coroner will look to release that material.
JOURNALIST: Commissioner, can you describe your leadership style for us?
NEGUS: Well, my leadership style is very much one of inclusion. I don't have a mortgage on all the good ideas for the future of the AFP, and I say that to my senior managers quite often.
One of my key roles will be to fill the two major Deputy Commissioner positions that are now existing. We will look to do that, certainly by the end of the year to get a strong senior management team in place.
I would like to think that I'm a person who is easy to talk to. I believe very strongly in the concept of empowerment and I believe in letting my operational managers get on with operationally managing the work that they do.
JOURNALIST: Your style is different to Commissioner Keelty?
NEGUS: Look, everyone's different and I don't think that my style differs markedly from Commissioner Keelty's. I've worked with him for a long time, and have a high level of respect for the work that he's done in the AFP.
JOURNALIST: [Inaudible]…Godwin Grech investigation.
NEGUS: I am not briefed on the exact stage of that at the moment. Taking over today on day one, it's something that I need to get across in the next few days and I'd be happy if you could make some inquiries through the media unit.
JOURNALIST: Are you aware of what role the AFP played in the Tim Holding rescue and whether he may have received treatment different to anyone else?
NEGUS: I am acutely aware of the role of the AFP and I can tell you that whilst the technology that was deployed, it doesn't get much fanfare from us because we'd like to keep it as discreet as possible, that technology has been deployed on several other occasions to look for individuals.
The fight against organised crime is a continual battle. It's a battle where the criminals take note of what we do, how we actually use things and they use their own methods to actually avoid detection.
So, it's not for me to come out and really put everything out in the open, so people then change their methodology and avoid apprehension.
Where we can – and in this case we were able to deploy some technology which was quite sophisticated, but again it's the sort of thing we would claim privilege over in court – save someone's life, I think that's a very positive outcome and one that should be welcomed.
But, I can tell you there's no specific special treatment for Mr Holding and the equipment has been used several times before, as I said, without any public fanfare.
JOURNALIST: [Inaudible]…role of AFP at airports.
NEGUS: There are a number of reviews that have just come into conclusion about the role of the AFP and airports. And once we see those, we'll look forward to making sure that that meets all the requirements.
I am very comfortable at the moment that security in airports is sufficient. Could there be more people there? Yes there could. We're looking forward to making sure that the proposed numbers are certainly there. What we have is an alternate system where the State police would actually require back-up if we need it from any particular point.
JOURNALIST: [Inaudible]
NEGUS: Again, I am not aware of what's been spoken about in the press, but there's nothing been referred to the AFP.
JOURNALIST: Mr McClelland painted you as a bit of a renaissance man [indistinct]?
NEGUS: That was a one-off to raise some money for charity. I am happy to contribute where I can for a good cause. But, as the Attorney said, my guitar skills are not really that of Eric Clapton, I can tell you.
[Ends]
