Page 50 - Australian Defence Mag March 2020

50 BORDER PROTECTION OVERVIEW
MARCH 2020 | WWW.AUSTRALIANDEFENCE.COM.AU
est point, Australia’s maritime territory is only three nautical miles away from Papua New Guinea at Saibai Island, it goes into the Coral Sea and our eastern approaches into Tasma- nia; it goes down into the Bight and into the Southern Ocean and projects up to the Australian Antarctic Territory.
“Australia is one of the original treaty claimants with 42 per cent of Antarctica being Australian Antarctic Territory as we officially have two land borders - they’re with France and Norway – actually in Antarctica,” RADM Goddard said to ADM. “You could say we almost have a land border with Papua New Guinea as well because Saibai Island in the northern part of the Torres Strait is only three nautical miles away and it’s actually very shallow water between.
within designated marine reserves and the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park, around Australia's offshore oil and gas installations, submerged pipelines and cables (Sea Lines of Communications, SLOCs) and around declared historic wreck sites.
MBC MISSION
RADM Goddard first explained what his role is in the bor- der protection community.
“First of all I have command responsibilities for ABF as- sets, as I’m a sworn officer of the ABF for that purpose and for the ADF assets which are force assigned to MBC,” RADM Goddard explained.
“I also have what’s called a convening authority. For mari- time security, on behalf of the ABF Commissioner, I can con- vene across agencies, across the Australian Fisheries Manage- ment Agency, convene across policing agencies, which includes the intelligence to make sure that we are sharing and then fus- ing the information that we are seeing.”
In terms of who does what, the interagency nature of the mission is clear. MBC enforces Australian Law on behalf of a number of other Commonwealth and state agencies. For ex- ample, the Australian Fisheries Management Agency, AMSA (Australian Maritime Safety Authority) for regulatory issues and pollution, Great Barrier Reef Marine Park, Parks Aus- tralia, Australian Antarctic Division, and Aus- tralian Quarantine for biosecurity. The com- plexity of the stakeholder landscape is dense and challenging. The primary role of MBC is enforcing Australian law in the maritime en- vironment, regardless of the agency that has carriage of the specific legalisation, as now ar-
“And then of course well into the Indian Ocean and South- ern Ocean and then Australia’s offshore territories such as Cocos Islands and Christmas Island, Norfolk Island, Heard Island, McDonald and Macquarie Islands, the Antarctic area. We have Home Affairs, the ABF, Defence and a number of supporting security agencies focused on understanding and responding to the civil maritime threats
to Australia. We then must manage these
threats through risk assessments and the bal-
ancing and positioning of the right surveil-
lance platforms and assets to respond.”
RESPONSIBILITIES
MBC operations are tailored to counter civil maritime security threats to Australia’s bor- der including:
• Illegal maritime arrivals (in direct support
of Operation Sovereign Borders)
• Prohibited import and export activities
(such as border control drugs)
• Piracy, robbery and violence at sea
MBC also protects Australia’s maritime domain and leads the whole of government coordination and response against maritime terrorism including:
• Attacks on critical infrastructure
• Attacks on vessels and commercial interests
• Environmental and biological attacks, including marine
pollution.
They also have a significant role in targeting and prevent- ing illegal fishing by foreign fishing vessels and domestic fisherman, illegal removal or destruction of wildlife and activities that cause unlawful damage to the ecosystem. MBC also has a significant presence in protected areas
“IN TERMS WHAT, THE
OF WHO DOES INTERAGENCY NATURE OF THE MISSION IS CLEAR. MBC ENFORCES
AUSTRALIAN LAW ON BEHALF OF A NUMBER OF OTHER COMMONWEALTH AND STATE AGENCIES.”
ticulated in the Maritime Powers Act (of 2013). Indeed, in the ABF Headquarters at Brindabella Park in Canberra, officers from the above listed agencies work side by side every day.
The MBC within the ABF is enabled by both the ABF (ships, aircraft, personnel, intelligence) and by the ADF through a task group called Joint Task Force 639, Opera- tion Resolute. RADM Goddard is not only the Commander of MBC, he’s also the Commander of Joint Task Force 639.
ABOVE: The area covered by Australia’s border protection efforts is immense.
DEFENCE