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Report reveals Australians were spied on by local agency

It's been revealed four Australians were spied on by an Australian intelligence agency during the Tampa crisis last year.

The Federal Government has released the summary of a report into allegations of misconduct by the Defence Signals Directorate.

It was alleged the D-S-D tapped into communiations between the Norweigan vessel, the Tampa -- which was carrying asylum seekers -- and the Maritime Union to assist the Government's response to the crisis.

The Inspector-General of Intelligence, Bill Blick, found the D-S-D did not target the unions' communications or pass "raw intelligence" on to the government.

But he says four people's phone calls were accidently listened in on, while foreign intelligence was being collected.

The Defence Minister, Robert Hill, says it's not a trivial matter, but the report clears the D-S-D of any serious breach of its rules.

Mr blick has now investigated the matters fully, he investigated them at the time and he's now investigated them more fully, and he's come to the conclusion that there was no improper tapping and improper communication except for these very modest, somewhat technical instances that he's made public.

02/05/2002 20:41:33 | ABC Radio Australia News

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