AUSTRALIA'S overseas spy agency, the Australian Secret Intelligence Service, has been warned that offering informants passage to Australia or lavish gifts may be illegal. A review of ASIS by the nation's intelligence watchdog reveals at least two areas where methods may overstep "legality and propriety". The Inspector-General of Intelligence and Security, Ian Carnell, has expressed concern in his annual report over the "extent to which ASIS might seek to influence immigration applications" and the "extent to which a case officer could or should assist a human source to obtain particular goods".
His comments came as ABC TV's Four Corners program made fresh claims last night that an alleged high-level mole inside ASIO, the domestic intelligence agency, had passed operational secrets to the Soviet Union for more than a decade during the Cold War. Mr Carnell's report does not go into detail, but intelligence experts told The Australian that ASIS practices that may be legally questionable include promising a foreign informant that an application for a visa to relocate to Australia will be successful. And when an agent develops a professional relationship with an informant, lunch or small gifts may be acceptable but larger gifts and cash are in a legal "grey area". The Intelligence Services Act provides agents with broad powers to carry out their roles, but inducements could be banned. |