The AGE argues that Mr Turnbull needs to persuade Australians that the change will genuinely increase security without compromising civil liberties.
Australia will have a new Home Affairs department that will combine the domestic spy agency, the Australian Federal Police, the Australian Border Force, the Australian Criminal Intelligence Commission, financial intelligence agency AUSTRAC and the Office of Transport Security.
The AGE says Australia already has one of the best intelligence and security operations in the world as they have thwarted more than 10 terrorist attacks in recent times.
The paper raises questions whether the changes will erode civil liberties and says Mr Turnbull should persuade Australians that the change will genuinely increase security without compromising civil liberties.
It explains that the combining of security agencies in one department is not a new idea: it was closely considered a decade ago by then prime minister Kevin Rudd, who rejected it on the grounds it would be "less accountable, less agile, and less adaptable", after a review by a former Defence Department secretary.
The AGE argues that it is fair and prudent to question the wisdom of creating such a potentially unwieldy structure and reducing the clout behind security from three ministers to only one.
