THE Resources and Energy Minister, Martin Ferguson, has secretly pushed for increased surveillance by federal police intelligence officers of environmental activists who have been protesting peacefully at coal-fired power stations and coal export facilities.
Documents released to the Herald under freedom of information laws confirm the police are “continually monitoring” anti-coal mining and other environmental groups. Much of the intelligence collection is carried out for the federal police by a private contractor, the National Open Source Intelligence Centre, in Melbourne.
The documents reveal that Mr Ferguson, prompted by lobbying from energy companies, has urged stronger criminal penalties against protests that disrupt “critical energy infrastructure”.
The Greens leader, Bob Brown, condemned the surveillance, saying it was “intolerable that the federal Labor government is spying on conservation groups” and wanting to “criminalise political protest”.
Documents released by the Resources, Energy and Tourism Department reveal Mr Ferguson wrote to the then attorney-general, Robert McClelland, in September 2009 to raise “concerns of issues-motivated activism, and the possibility of disruptions to critical energy infrastructure sites”.
Mr Ferguson sought advice on whether the resources of the attorney-general’s portfolio, in particular the intelligence gathering services of the federal police, could be ”utilised to assist the energy sector and jurisdictional police to manage the increasing risk of disruptions”.
In November 2009 Mr McClelland replied that while ”I recognise the right to protest, when actions jeopardise energy security and the delivery of essential services, it is important that measures be taken to prevent and deter unlawful activity”.
He confirmed that the federal police continually monitored ”the activities of issues-motivated groups and individuals who may target establishments through direct action, or action designed to disrupt or interfere with essential services”.
Mr McClelland highlighted the role of the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation “in intelligence gathering, analysis and advice in relation to protest activity [that] focuses on actual, or the potential for, violence”.
Read more: http://www.smh.com.au/environment/afp-spies-targeting-green-activists-20120106-1pogq.html#ixzz1iirU8q00
