The list of now-prominent Australians reported as having been ”subjects of interest” to ASIO in the 1960s and ‘70s should give us pause. Those who later rose to the positions of High Court judge, premier of Tasmania and president of the NSW Legislative Council, among others, were never threats to national security. That citizens of a democracy could be subject to such surveillance is shameful, and a waste of tax dollars.
Can the ASIO of today, which is much larger and more powerful than it was then, assure us it is serving our interests more justly and wisely? And how might we verify this?
– Peter Grabosky, CLA member, Forrest ACT
(Canberra Times 5 Jan 2014 http://tiny.cc/lft68w)