Surveillance
Surveillance of activists takes the form of filming protests, intercepting phone calls, intercepting emails and the use of undercover police officers or paid informers to infiltrate organisations. Such people may do so under the instruction of the NSW State police, the Australian Federal Police or the Intelligence Security Intelligence Organisation. It has also been known for private detective agencies and other companies to do so for the private sector.
Police officers take video of even the smallest and most peaceful events. This suggests that the aim of such filming is to collect information on who attends peaceful protests, rather than evidence on potential criminal behaviour. This view is reinforced by the huge resources devoted to the surveillance of progressive groups, where the activities of the extreme right are usually ignored.
Shoddy intelligence
The APEC protests in Sydney led to 61 people being put on an excluded persons' list, essentially stopping such people from entering large areas of the Central Business District. Many of those on the list had no criminal convictions and of those who did have criminal convictions, many were for minor criminal damage associated with Greenpeace protest events. A copy of the assessments is reproduced at the end of this page as a pdf document and is still available at the Sydney Moring Herald website (Beware of the police bearing lists)
Expansion of police surveillance powers
The powers that police have to conduct surveillance operations are continually expanding. The most recent include new legislation allowing for the secret searches of people's homes, the taking away and planting of items, without the requirement to notify the person subject to the search for many years. The is in contrast to the previous situation where a person could inspect a copy of the search warrant and be present when the search was carried out. Such powers, formally reserved for counter-terrorism operations, can now be carried out for ordinary criminal activity. The threshold is relatively low - growing a few cannabis plants would be enough to trigger the special powers.
The extra secret search powers are in addition to extra bugging powers given to NSW police in 2008 These powers gave powers to bug or track people for up to 4 days before the need to obtain a warrant.
Worryingly, the High Court in March 2009 have indicated a relaxed attitude towards collecting covert evidence.
Undercover police officers
In late 2008, a number of groups in Melbourne reported that they were infiltrated by a paid police informer who monitored their activists. The police officer was said to associate himself with a number of groups, including an animal liberation group, the International Socialist Organisation (now forming part of Solidarity), Unity for Peace and Stop the Arms Fair. This confirmed the suspicions of many activists that many groups on the left were being infiltrated by undercover police. Even Melbourne Vegan Strength - a vegan keep-fit group - was infiltrated by a paid undercover police officer.
Paid informers
Pain informers are not police officers and they get paid money to give information to the police. When the identity of police informers are made public, they are normally found to have drug or alcohol-related problems, or are blackmailed into informing as a result of their own criminal behaviour.
The most detailed confession of a paid informer in recent years is that of a man who monitored activist groups in New Zealand. This person was "run" by a section of New Zealand police responsible for counter-terrorism security. More details can be found at Police anti-terror squad spies on protest groups by Nick Hager and Anthony Hubbard Sunday Star Times (NZ) 14 December 2008. Also see How Gilchrist was found out and Who the police were spying on
Evidence given to the Guardian newspaper (UK) in the form of audio tapes in April 2009 in the form suggested that there are hundreds of paid informers in protest groups in that country, suggesting a similar level of operation in Australia.
Further information about the law relating to terrorism and surveillance can be found in the section on Terrorism and Surveillance of the Activist Rights Manual.
Internet and email surveillance
Internet surveillance of protest groups is commonplace, with some surveillance being farmed out to private companies.
Up to a third of a secret list of people excluded from central Sydney during the APEC forum in 2007 were University students and Greenpeace activists. A copy of the APEC intelligence assessments which were prepared on the individuals listed was released under Freedom of Information laws and published on the Sydney Morning Herald website. Many of the assessments contained inaccuracies, as individuals have been able to identify their own intelligence assesments from biographical information.
There is genuine concern that counter-terrorism laws are being used to combat ordinary crime and from there to policing protests. Even the most violent protests in Australia involve relatively trivial criminal offences and very rarely lead to prison sentences. An example of how such 'legislative overreach' occurs has been the UK, where laws which were introduced to combat terrorism and serious crime have been used in response to complaints about matters as trivial as barking dogs and loud children.
Another area of concern is the use of surveillance technology (legally or illegally) by private detectives or journalists. The extent of this is unknown in Australia, but there has been reporting of widespread and extensive use of telephone tapping technology by one Murdoch-owned newspaper in the UK.
Further reading
Secret files on protesters given to desal consortium by Paul Austin The Age 5 December 2009.
1,000 CCTV cameras to solve just one crime, Met [police] admits by Christopher Hope Daily Telegraph [UK] 25 August 2009
Freedom's fine line as cops go on wire by Christ Masters The Weekend Australian 11-12 July 2009.
Feature article on police electronic surveillance powers. No apparent web link.
I spied on top Aussies by Laurie Nowell, Melbourne Sun-Herald 21 June 2009. Former ASIO agent spills the beans on cold war spying on the left.
ASIO bugs 3000 local phone calls a year by Natalie O'Brien The Australian 29 May 2009.
Facebook Status: am sick of all the spies by Asher Moses SMH 18 April 2009.
Police confiscate property of a 'political nature' using criminal search warrant 19 April 2009. The Guardian video (UK).
Secret searches spreading too far by Mark Polden Sydney Morning Herald 23 March 2009.
Were police spies behind mass arrets of activists? [UK] More than 100 people detained before power plant protest by Jerome Taylor The Independent 14 April 2009.
Concern as police bugging power widens by Heath Gilmore Sydney Morning Herald 3 August 2008. "NSW police now have special emergency powers to bug or track people for up to four days without a warrant."
Legal Victory for expelled peace activist by Peter Gregory The Age 19 July 2008.
Nothing new about cops spying on the left by Jerome Small Socialist Alternative website November 2008.
Our very own police state by Brian Toohey Australian Financial Review 10 October 2008. No apparent web link.
Police plan to use military-style spy drones by Paul Lewis The Guardian [UK] 23 January 2010.
A copy of the intelligence assessments on those excluded from the APEC security area can be found below. The document was released under Freedom of Information laws following an application by the Sydney Morning Herald. More information at Beware of the police bearing lists by Edmund Tadros Sydney Morning Herald (weekend edition) 6-7 September 2008.
| apec_excluded_persons_list.pdf |
Police in 9 million [UK pounds] scheme to log "domestic extremists" The Guardian (UK) 25 October 2009.
