UPDATE: Serious calls for increased funding for the Australian Federal Police (AFP) are intensifying following shocking revelations that a national surveillance team was disbanded just before the Bondi attacks. The Coalition is seizing on reports from The West Australian detailing the quiet dissolution of a dedicated squad in Canberra that monitored High Risk Terrorist Offenders (HRTO) late last year.
Shadow Home Affairs Minister Jonathan Duniam emphasized that this alarming development highlights a significant crisis in Australia’s counter-terrorism approach. “This is just the latest in a series of damning revelations from whistleblowers from within the counter-terrorism system,” Duniam stated. He called for immediate government support for additional resources to bolster the AFP’s Counter-Terrorism Command and the Home Affairs’ Counter-Terrorism Coordination Centre.
As the Prime Minister, Anthony Albanese, insists AFP funding is at “record levels,” Duniam argues that chronic under-resourcing and neglect of the terror threat have led to a counter-terrorism crisis in Australia. “Under the Albanese Government, chronic under-resourcing and a pathological failure to take seriously how antisemitism was inflaming the terror threat, has left Australia’s counter-terrorism system in crisis,” he asserted.
Earlier today, Albanese expressed “full confidence” in the AFP’s operations and dismissed claims that their capacity to monitor dangerous extremists has declined. “There is record funding for the Australian Federal Police. Record funding,” he asserted in response to the explosive report.
The AFP has acknowledged that “consideration was given to a reallocation in line with strategic and operational priorities.” A senior national security source revealed to The West that HRTO resourcing is expected to be a pivotal focus in the ongoing review of intelligence and law enforcement agencies led by former spy chief Dennis Richardson. The source indicated that resources allocated to HRTO will need to be increased as numerous prisoners convicted of terrorism offenses are scheduled to complete their sentences or become eligible for parole soon.
The urgency of this situation was underscored by internal AFP sources who disclosed that budgets for covert operations were slashed late last year. This reduction meant that crucial operations beyond regular shifts were not being executed. Just weeks before the Bondi massacre, the union representing federal police warned the Albanese government about “chronic and worsening shortages” of counter-terrorism officers.
A document from the AFP Association highlighted that counter-terrorism operations increased by more than 280 percent since 2015, illustrating a critical shift towards proactive disruption of both domestic and offshore terror networks. “Australia’s threat environment is not shrinking; it is expanding rapidly. The men and women of the AFP stand on the front line every day, and they deserve the resources required to keep doing so effectively,” stated AFPA President Alex Caruana in a poignant message on November 26.
With tensions rising and the potential for further attacks looming, the call for swift action on counter-terrorism funding has never been more urgent. As this situation develops, the Australian public and law enforcement await the government’s next steps in addressing these critical security concerns.
