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IGIS Annual Report 1999-00 |
IGIS Annual Report 1999-00
THE YEAR IN REVIEW
EXTERNAL PROFILE
Commonwealth Parliament
20. In common with other agencies the Inspector-General attends hearings of Senate legislation committees examining the budget estimates. I answered a number of questions about the work of the office during these hearings.
21. At the invitation of the joint parliamentary committee on ASIO I attended one session of the committee to discuss the work of the office in relation to ASIO and another to assist the committee with its consideration of amendments to the ASIO Act.
NSW Legislative Assembly committee on the ICAC
22. During 1999 the New South Wales Legislative Assembly committee on the Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC) was exploring various models of external accountability mechanism for the ICAC. It invited me to discuss with it the functions of the IGIS in relation to Australia's intelligence and security agencies. I attended a hearing of the committee for this purpose in November 1999.
Media inquiries
23. There were a number of queries from journalists arising from last year's annual report.
24. Most of these were about the preliminary inquiries mentioned at paragraphs 105-107 and 144-146 of that report. These were into allegations that a lobby group's activities and communications were investigated by ASIO and DSD. I was able to inform inquirers that I had found no evidence of any improper or illegal activity by ASIO or DSD.
25. We also received requests for information about various ongoing inquiries being conducted by the office. It is not possible to provide such details as the IGIS Act requires that inquiries be conducted in private.
26. Late in 1999 a reporter from the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) interviewed me for BBC radio about the work of the Inspector-General in relation to DSD. Claims were later made overseas that part of that interview constituted official acknowledgement of the existence of an alleged communications interception system known as Echelon. It was no such thing, as more sober and knowledgeable commentators were quick to point out.
Internet presence
27. The IGIS home page (http://www.igis.gov.au) provides factual information about the work of the office, copies of all the office's annual reports and other background information, and links to other sites. There is a steady stream of visitors to the site. We also receive and respond to email correspondence from people, including complainants, who have learnt of our existence and role via the internet.