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| Down Under | |
| Australia to boost Federal Police force for overseas deployments | |
| 2006-08-25 | |
| Prime Minister John Howard says extra Australian Federal Police (AFP) officers are needed for increased overseas deployments to help ensure regional stability. Mr Howard says the ranks of the AFP will be boosted by extra 400 officers to serve in overseas trouble spots. "The Government is doing this because we believe that the need for international deployments by the Australian Federal Police will, in all likelihood, increase in our region over the years ahead," he said. "Regional instability in a number of countries, evidenced recently by what happened in East Timor and Solomon Islands, is likely to continue, indeed intensify. "This is part of our response to the deteriorating security situation in the region." He says an extra 422 AFP officers will be posted overseas over the next two years. Opposition Leader Kim Beazley is worried about recruitment. "He must not recruit from the state police forces to do this, he must train these people from the ground up," he said.
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| Posted by:Oztralian |