Defence boss to review security at bases

(AAP) - A previous government's decision to use private security firms to guard Australian military bases was taken to "put more teeth at the front", Deputy Prime Minister Julia Gillard says.

Prime Minister Kevin Rudd has ordered defence force chief Air Chief Marshal Angus
Houston to conduct a review of security at all military bases and consider whether
the practice of using private security firms to guard military installations is
suitable.
The national security committee of federal cabinet ordered the review after pre-dawn
police raids in Victoria on Tuesday which police say foiled a terrorist attack on
Holsworthy Barracks in Sydney.
Ms Gillard said the thinking of the previous government was to dedicate soldiers to
more highly trained work.
"We moved in this country to having jobs in defence contracted out, including having
security jobs contracted out, because the drive then was to put more teeth at the
front, was the terminology used," Ms Gillard told Macquarie radio on Wednesday.
"To have soldiers, and our soldiers are very highly trained and very capable, doing
the work that they are trained to do and alleviating them of other work roles
through contracting out arrangements. That was the philosophy."
She said reports of lax personal identification and vehicle security checks at
Holsworthy, including that one person was granted access after producing an old
library card, were "disturbing".
"It's very good that the chief of our defence force Angus Houston is now going to
review this matter," she said.
"The aim here, obviously, is to have bases secured."
Ms Gillard also defended Australia's immigration processes and said the government
understood the dangers of young Australians becoming radicalised.
Somali community leader in Sydney, Herse Hilole, reportedly warned Labor MP Laurie
Ferguson two years ago that young Somali refugees in Melbourne were returning to the
African country to fight and could be recruited for attacks in Australia.
"That, obviously, was before a time we were in government, when Laurie was serving
as a shadow minister," Ms Gillard said.
"Laurie Ferguson, me, Kevin (Rudd), all sides of politics I would actually say, have
understood the dangers of people being radicalised in this country."
Authorities had examined terrorist incidents overseas, most notably in the UK, where
the prime movers were people born in the UK who became radicalised.
"So that has been part of the thinking of politicians and, importantly, part of the
thinking of our security agencies," she said.
No one could give "big guarantees" that other alleged terrorist cells were not
plotting an attack, she said.
"We have great security agencies and police doing this work for us," she said.