Govt ignored faked security clearance claims

19/10/11

Four Labor Members of Parliament including at least one Cabinet Minister were aware of serious allegations about dubious security vetting processes in Defence last year yet nothing was done until the claims were aired on Lateline in May 2011.

In Senate Estimates today it was revealed that 20,000 security clearances, including 5,000 top secret clearances, would now have to be re-vetted after the claims about staff being advised to make up details of applicants to fill in gaps were found to be true.

After the claims were aired on Lateline in May this year the Defence Minister said “The Government has taken this matter very seriously since the allegations were bought to its attention on 16 May 2011.”

Shadow Defence Minister David Johnston said the whistleblowers had raised their concerns in 2010 with Government Ministers and their local members but they had sat on their hands until they were embarrassed by the media report 12 months later.

“The Defence Minister’s statement was completely misleading and designed to get the Government off the hook,” Senator Johnston said

“It should not have taken a television program for the Government to finally take this issue seriously and now thousands more clearances have to be re-examined, while our national security was left vulnerable for much longer than necessary.”

The Minister responsible for the Defence Security Agency (DSA) at the time was Alan Griffin and after the August 2010 election Warren Snowden took over the Defence Science and Personnel portfolio. The whistleblowers also went to their local MP’s Craig Emerson and Brett Raguse in March 2010 – both of whom promised they would raise it with the Minister.

Responding to questions from Senator Johnston in Senate Estimates, Defence officials claimed they had not acted on the allegations because they were merely ‘raised in passing’ during an investigation into bullying at the DSA.

“I do not accept that explanation – what is clear in this sorry saga is that a television producer investigated the claims more thoroughly than this Government,” Senator Johnston said.

“The same allegations were given to the Government in 2010 that were also raised on the television program more than a year later in May 2011. As a consequence there are 20,000 applicants that must be revetted because of this Government’s mismanagement.”