00:02Kathu, you're hearing so far, I've really focused very broadly on ASIO's aims and
00:07priorities in the years leading up to the Bondi terror attack.
00:11We haven't gone into the specifics yet of what was known about the gunmen themselves
00:16and how that information was acted upon.
00:18This is something that was picked up in the interim report published by the Royal Commission
00:22last month or so.
00:24The suggestion that ASIO had shifted much of its resourcing and much of its intelligence
00:29towards counter-espionage and counter-foreign interference in the years leading up to this
00:35attack, particularly in the early 2020s.
00:38Mike Bird just saying that was simply reflective of the security situation at the time, that
00:43particularly after the ISIS caliphate collapsed in mid-2019, counter-terrorism was less of
00:49a priority, whereas counter-espionage and counter-foreign interference was a significant workload
00:55for ASIO.
00:55So ASIO was simply responding to that circumstance.
00:59That said, after the October 7 terror attack in 2023, Hamas' attack upon Israel, Mike Bird
01:05just said there was a very public shift back towards counter-terrorism.
01:09He said as much in public statements at the time.
01:13He says that was a greater focus for ASIO.
01:15That said, the espionage issue had not gone away.
01:18So ASIO was left juggling these two somewhat competing priorities.
01:22But he insists nothing was left uninvestigated.
01:25No leads were not chased down.
01:27He was also at pains to make clear that ASIO is not all-seeing and all-knowing and simply
01:33cannot be within Australia.
01:35So there are always going to be issues that I suppose slip between the cracks.
01:39Here's Mike Bird just giving evidence this morning, speaking to that issue of resourcing,
01:44particularly in the early 2020s and how ASIO was managing that.
01:49At no time do I believe we had anything serious inquiries that was left unenquired or investigated.
01:56In terms of counter-terrorism?
01:58In terms of counter-terrorism.
01:59So yes, we were pivoting resources across because that's where the leads took us and
02:04where we were required to put effort.
02:05But of course, at the same time, we're always making sure that we're not leaving serious
02:10threats unenquired or uninvestigated.
02:12So Tom, what else is expected today?
02:16Look, Kath, we're expected to hear from the Australian Federal Police, the New South
02:20Wales Police and also the Jewish Security Group, the Community Security Group later on
02:25this afternoon.
02:26That's going to go into some of the specifics around security arrangements for the December
02:3114 Hanukkah by the Sea event, going into communications between the CSG and New South
02:37Wales Police and particularly the specific staffing allocations from New South Wales Police to
02:42that event.
02:43Let's hear now from the Council Assisting, Richard Lancaster, who this morning spelled
02:48out where the Royal Commission wants to go on that issue in the days ahead.
02:52The evidence from CSG will be that CSG asked New South Wales Police to provide a police presence
02:59for the entirety of the Hanukkah events at Bondi Beach and at Dover Heights.
03:04Second, New South Wales Police decided not to provide a static presence for the duration
03:10of the Bondi event, but allocated a mobile tasking.
03:14That is, police officers were instructed to attend the event from time to time during the
03:19evening.
03:20Now, Kath, three weeks has been set aside for this second block of hearings at the Royal
03:25Commission going into these intelligence, security and policing issues.
03:29But only about two and a half days are going to be open to the public.
03:33The rest are going to be held in either closed or classified hearings simply because the sort
03:38of intelligence information being discussed is a bit too sensitive.
03:41Tom Lowry, thank you.
03:42Tom Lowry, thank you.
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