The Rudd government and national security: continuity or change in the war on terror?

A vast proportion of the national security architecture to fight the amorphous global ‘war on terror’, created after 9/11, remains untouched. Prime Minister Kevin Rudd has expressed a commitment to ensuring that agencies such as the AFP and ASIO have the expertise, capacity and resources to collect and analyze the information needed to combat terrorism. Rudd has also identified a commitment to stop a terrorist attack while not compromising the integrity of democratic traditions and constitutional processes. This paper will address the tone and direction of the Rudd government’s approach to the problem of terrorism, examine proposed reform in key areas of national security legislation and explore the judicial mechanisms that are in place to assure that the security sector conducts its business in accordance with the law, national intelligence priorities and the protection of fundamental human rights