Bondi Royal Commission: Anthony Albanese picks counter-terrorism official as new National Security Advisor

A senior Home Affairs official who serves as the department’s Deputy Counter-Terrorism Coordinator has been appointed the Prime Minister’s new national security advisor as the Albanese Government prepares for the Royal Commission into the Bondi attack.

At the same time the department has faced questions in Parliament over intelligence failures leading up to the worst terror attack on Australian soil which claimed 15 lives in December.

The Nightly has revealed Gemma Smyth will replace former intelligence analyst and Mandarin speaker Philippa Brant, who stepped down last month.

In a professional online networking profile, the Home Affairs Department First Assistant Secretary describes herself as “an accomplished strategist with 20 years of Commonwealth Government experience”.

“I have a diverse background in HR, workforce planning, industrial relations, strategic policy, program management and capability development. For 15 years I have led teams in the development of major strategic initiatives in the law enforcement and national security arena.”

Members of the national security community say that there is a possibility Ms Smyth will be called to give evidence to the Bondi Royal Commission given the position she held last year.

“I think her appointment signals that the government is wary of how serious the threat of extremism has become, and that perhaps the focus was not quite as sharp as it could have been previously,” a government insider told The Nightly.

The PM’s office on Tuesday declined to comment on the appointment, but Home Affairs Secretary Stephanie Foster later confirmed the move when questioned at a Senate estimates hearing.

“We’re in a period of handover transition,” the secretary told Parliament in response to questions from shadow home affairs minister Jonno Duniam about The Nightly’s report.

“(She is) the head of our Counter-Terrorism Coordination Centre. (We’ve) identified the officer who we are transferring in, it’s an officer who’s already at level – I’m not naming the person because we are I think yet to issue the staff notice”.

During her appearance at senate estimates the Home Affairs Secretary was also questioned about the department’s screening of the alleged Bondi perpetrators Sajid and Naveed Akram.

Greens Senator David Shoebridge demanded to know details of the department’s role in monitoring individuals considered a security risk who travel to the Philippines or “potential ISIS hot spots”.

Ms Foster told the committee there was a process involving a system of alerts which is administered by the Australian Border Force but argued that the Philippines as a destination itself was not “unusual” and was visited by “many, many people”.

When ABF Commissioner Gavan Reynolds declined to answer questions about the statutory thresholds for individuals to be put on the movement alert system, Senator Shoebridge snapped back “good luck at the Royal Commission”.

On Monday evening the country’s newly appointed top intelligence official warned the threat of Islamic extremism was “absolutely not a thing of the past”, and the Bondi attacks starkly illuminated that trend.

“Its persistence is remarkable. Its threat is undeniable, and it remains a very close focus of many colleagues across the national intelligence community,” Kathy Klugman, the head of the Office for National Intelligence, told senate estimates.

“The problem globally of Islamic extremist terrorism remains right up the top of the list when it comes to global extremist action and terrorism threats,” the ONI boss said, just months after being appointed to the role by Mr Albanese.

Ms Klugman previously served as the PM’s principal international adviser and was named as the new head of ONI in October after her predecessor Andrew Shearer was made Australia’s next ambassador to Japan.

Former Australian High Commissioner to Solomon Islands Rod Hilton, who previously also served as deputy chief of staff to Labor Minister Greg Combet, has replaced Ms Klugman in Mr Albanese’s office.