Secret

The Making of Australia’s Security State

Brian Toohey
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Secret

Published

3 September 2019

ISBN

9780522872804

Pages

400

Imprint

Melbourne University Press

Secret

The Making of Australia’s Security State

Brian Toohey
Brian Toohey draws on decades of inquiries into national security to examine governing by stealth.
Elected governments pose the greatest threat to Australians' security. Political leaders increasingly promote secrecy, ignorance and fear to introduce new laws that undermine individual liberties and magnify the risks of being dragged into a horrific new war for no good reason. It is a criminal offence to receive or publish a wide range of information unrelated to national security. Our defence weapons are so dependent on US technical support that Australia couldn't defend itself without US involvement. The Commonwealth is amassing comprehensive databases on citizens' digital fingerprints and facial recognition characteristics. True? False? Read Secret: The Making of Australia's Security State and you decide. Fresh archival material and revealing details of conversations between former CIA, US State Department and Australian officials will make you reconsider the world around you.
Elected governments pose the greatest threat to Australians' security. Political leaders increasingly promote secrecy, ignorance and fear to introduce new laws that undermine individual liberties and magnify the risks of being dragged into a horrific new war for no good reason. It is a criminal offence to receive or publish a wide range of information unrelated to national security. Our defence weapons are so dependent on US technical support that Australia couldn't defend itself without US involvement. The Commonwealth is amassing comprehensive databases on citizens' digital fingerprints and facial recognition characteristics. True? False? Read Secret: The Making of Australia's Security State and you decide. Fresh archival material and revealing details of conversations between former CIA, US State Department and Australian officials will make you reconsider the world around you.

Simply put, Brian Toohey has written the most comprehensive book ever about the history of the Australian security state and its key agencies.”
Randall Doyle, Pacific Affairs

Secret is indispensable reading for anyone interested in the history of Australia’s national security and the health of our democracy.”
David Lee, Labour History

Secret offers firsthand insight into the rise of the Australian security state, backed with rigorous archival and secondary research. It is an important book that should cause all Australians to pause and reflect on the direction of our society. ”
Kieran Pender, Australian Book Review

Despite the threats, bugging, run-ins with ministers and court actions, the government never succeeded in extracting or identifying Toohey’s many sources. He has, however, revealed in this book a handful of sensitive conversations with figures who have since died.”
Deborah Snow, The Age

Toohey’s book, which traverses the years of his own national security reporting, examines the erosion of civil liberties in Australia – especially since the US terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001 – and the increasing use of secrecy as a weapon.”
Karen Middleton, The Saturday Paper

Brian Toohey

Brian Toohey

Brian Toohey was a columnist with the Australian Financial Review who has also written for The Nikkei Asia Review, The West Australian, The Sunday Age and other publications. He was editor of The National Times and a Canberra and Washington correspondent for AFR. He is the author or co-author of four books: Oyster: The Story of the Australian Secret Intelligence Service; Tumbling Dice: The Story of Modern Economic Policy; The Book of

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Paperback
Added to basketCheckout →
Ships in 1–3 days
Other formats available