Basic Espionage/Warfare for Intelligence Agents (tags)
According to its own mouthpiece, ABC news, the Australian spy agency (ASIO) has embarked on a recruitment drive:
Thursday, December 28, 2006. 11:37am (AEDT) “The Australian Security Intelligence Organisation (ASIO) is looking to recruit at least 170 people this financial year. The number of ASIO officers from non-english speaking backgrounds has more than doubled since 2004, and the organisation is looking for people with diverse backgrounds to conduct counter-terrorism and counter-espionage work. The intelligence organisation spent more than $2 million on recruitment advertising in 2005-6. The Federal Attorney-General, Phillip Ruddock, says funding for ASIO has also increased considerably. "I think we have now something of the order of 1,200 staff and that's double the number it had in 2000-2001 and we are continuing with a very active program that will expand the organisation in the near future to reach something in the order of 1,500-1,600 people," he said. http://www.abc.net.au/news/newsitems/200612/s1818848.htm
Boffins, Buffoons and Intelligence Agencies (tags)
Paul O'Sullivan, Director-General ASIO, recently fielded questions after his public address at the Sydney Institute. In response to a question relating to the Cronulla race riots, the ASIO chief confirmed that extremism from any quarter (left or right) would attract the attention of our domestic watchdog. His answer prompted a memory recall of the most infamous failure of our domestic spy agencies, the Sydney Hilton Bombing of February ’78.