Treasurer Joe Hockey said $1.2 billion in new funding for national security, in addition to the $1 billion announced in the Abbott Government’s first budget.
Mr Hockey said Australians had “stared down” terrorist events and would deal with the challenges they posed.
“When it comes to national security, there can be no shortcuts,” he said.
“The threat of terrorism is rising and ever evolving and our response must be swift and uncompromising. We must have the best counter-terrorism capabilities available."
Some of the key funding measures include:
- $750 million to expand military operations in Afghanistan, Iraq and the Middle East, including the deployment of 300 troops to train and rebuild the Iraqi security force
- $296 million for new technology to allow spy agencies to collect information
- $21.7 million over four year to combat “extremist propaganda” on the internet and social media
The Australian Secret Intelligence Service is also set to receive $295.8 million over six years and a total of $131 million has also been allocated for metadata retention.
Budget documents show that $23 million has also been provided the Attorney-General’s Department and Australian Crime Commission to cover ongoing costs of implementation and oversight of the controversial scheme.
Since 2001, there have been 70 arrests, 35 prosecutions and 26 convictions as a result of counter-terror operations in Australia.
More recently, 22 arrests have been made on seven counter-terror operations between September 2014 and April 2015.
A total of $31.9 billion has been allocated for Defence spending in 2015-16, as well as a further $132.6 billion between now and 2018-19.
A significant portion has been allocated for operations in Iraq, which has additional funding of $359.8 million in the coming financial year.
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