Terror threat fuels security camera calls

By Shaun Inguanzo
ANTITERRORIST surveillance cameras could be installed in the City of Casey following a push by local MPs for increased security.
Flinders MP Greg Hunt and La Trobe MP Jason Wood last week called for major improvements to Australia’s national security to help eliminate the risk of a terrorist attack on home soil.
In a combined statement last week the duo described Melbourne’s current surveillance camera network, CitySafe, as ‘woefully inadequate’ because it consisted of only 200 cameras and was not linked nationally with other systems.
The MPs also called for a national database storing a collection of intricate personal information to track people’s behaviour and find terror suspects, with information such as fertiliser purchases to be linked with police records.
Mr Hunt said the cameras, if rolledout, could reach the City of Casey and would service local authorities in monitoring “day to day crime, not to mention broader security concerns.”
“I think there is scope for it just in basic personal security, so while Casey would be fairly low down on any known terror risks, from the principles of ordinary policing, cameras in public places offer citizens greater security at night,” Mr Hunt said.
Mr Wood added that despite CitySafe’s network of only 200 cameras, it had helped in the detection of “hundreds if not thousands” of criminal activities occurring on city streets over the last four years.
He said local public transport would be another target in the camera roll out.
“We have CCTV at train stations but we need to link that to other systems.”
Mr Wood said there could be an intrusion on people’s liberties, but that protecting lives outweighed the inconvenience.
Both MPs said the information collected would allow authorities to avoid racial profiling and focus purely on behaviour.
Mr Hunt said the systems would be established with peoples’ freedoms in mind.
“The information is not the threat, it is actions which close down freedom of speech we have to be cautious and vigilant about.”
Mr Wood is a former senior sergeant with the Victorian Police Counter Terrorism Coordination unit, and Mr Hunt is a former senior adviser to the Foreign Minister.