Spies to take on people smugglers

Kevin Rudd is to give Australia's top spy agency ASIO a new mission: protecting Australia from people smugglers.

The West Australian understands the Prime Minister intends rewriting ASIO's 60-year-old charter to extend its responsibilities beyond preventing espionage and sabotage to border protection.

Up until now, ASIO has been classed as purely a domestic intelligence agency but its new remit would also make it responsible for pursuing and gathering information against people smugglers.

As part of the Government's revamp of the agency's powers, the Telecommunications Interception and Access Act will be amended to allow ASIO greater use of covert phone tapping of criminal syndicates.

A source told The West Australian that ASIO came across "plenty of product" in its current activities that it could not fully use in the wider pursuit of highly organised people smugglers.

Since the surge of boat arrivals began in late 2008, information obtained by Australian intelligence agencies has been increasingly passed on to Indonesian authorities in an attempt to stem the trade.

While the Government is yet to release the legislative changes to ASIO's charter and the phone tap laws, the Prime Minister's national security adviser, Duncan Lewis, briefed the Opposition on the broad plan last Friday.

The Opposition has given the Government in-principle support for the changes, in keeping with the convention to maintain bipartisanship on national security issues. The legislation is expected to be introduced at the end of the month.

A spokesman for Attorney-General Robert McClelland was tight-lipped about the looming shake-up in the spy agency.

"There is no legislation currently scheduled to be introduced in relation to these issues," the spokesman said. "Obviously, the adequacy of border security arrangements remains under constant review."

In return for greater cooperation with Australia on border protection, Indonesia has been lobbying for greater access to information gathered by ASIO, ASIS and the federal police.

"As part of our rolling cooperation with Indonesia on the challenge of asylum seekers we have had a whole range of discussions over a long period of time about how that cooperation should be unfolded," Mr Rudd told Parliament yesterday.

The Prime Minister admitted the Government may be forced to help resettle a group of Tamil refugees camped on a boat at the Indonesian port of Merak.

The 240 asylum seekers have been aboard the boat for almost four months after being intercepted by Indonesian authorities following a phone call from Mr Rudd to President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono.

Indonesia said yesterday it wanted to avoid using force as a way of breaking the stand-off. The Tamils fear they will be forced to wait years for resettlement if they come ashore.

Mr Rudd yesterday brushed off claims ASIO had rushed the security assessments of Tamils involved in last year's Oceanic Viking stand-off, saying ASIO's security processing for the group had been within the average time of 35 days.