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Maritime Defence  –  Coastal Patrol  –  Port Security   –   July  2002

Australia's  'Coastwatch'  –   What  Can  Canada  Learn?

Dianne DeMille  –  Editor,  Canadian American Strategic Review (CASR)
Defending the Coast a military mission  –  Monitoring  the Coast a civilian task

Australia's coastline is immense — over  35,000 km. This coastline  is also  Australia's  national  border. The  federal government  has a strong  incentive to monitor and defend this border – by sea and by air. Defence  2000  –   Australia's  most  recent  White  Paper  on  these  matters   –   states  emphatically: " The  key  to  defending   Australia  is  to  control the  air  and   sea  approaches  to  our   continent."   The  role  of   defending   the continental  boundaries  is  given  to  the  Royal  Australian  Navy   ( RAN )  and the  Royal  Australian  Air  Force  (RAAF).  The  job  of  monitoring   the  coasts  –  by  sea  and  by  air  –   has  traditionally  been  assigned  to a  civilian agency.

Responsibility  for  all  civilian  coastal  surveillance  put  ' Under  One  Roof '

Australia  experimented  with  having  different  combinations  of  civil  agencies, each  dealing  with  separate  aspects  of  coastal  surveillance.  This  patchwork of  responsible  agencies  posed  problems  for  the  integration  of   information, the  coordination  of  actions ,  and   the  overall  response  time  of   the  system.

In  the  late  1980s ,  responsibility  for  all  civilian  coastal  surveillance  was  put under  one  roof  –  the  Australian  Customs  Service.  The  division  of  Customs which  now  has  primary  responsibility  for  monitoring  the  entire  coastline  of the  Australian  continent  is  called,  ' Coastwatch '.

[Another  division of  Customs  is  responsible  for  monitoring  Australia's  many large  ports.  Video cameras  watch  the  cargo containers  as  they  come into port and  are  unloaded.  Currently,  more  resources  are  being  allocated  for  the new technology  required  to  x-ray  unopened  shipping  containers.]

Cooperation between ' Coastwatch ' and the  Australian  Defence  Force ( ADF )

Coastwatch can call upon the resources of the ADF. Recently, a large container ship carrying illegal migrants was sighted off the Western Australian coast. RAN frigates prevented the ship (left) from entering Australian waters. Similarly, RAN patrol boats were called upon to intervene and prevent Chinese and Indonesian human-smuggling vessels from reaching the shores of northern Queensland. The long-range maritime patrol aircraft of the RAAF routinely fly sovereignty sorties over Australian territorial waters for Coastwatch. These agencies maintain a well-defined relationship with the ADF.

Coastwatch  also  has  access  to  a  fleet of  patrol  boats and  aircraft  of its own. Australian  Customs  Service  operates  a  fleet  of  fourteen  fixed-winged  patrol aircraft  (eight  equipped  with  sophisticated  search  radar) and two surveillance helicopters  (which  patrol  the  narrow  Torres  Straits  between  Indonesia  and Queensland  –  a  high-traffic  area  for  smugglers  of  both  contraband  goods and  illegal  migrants).  All  of  these  aircraft  and  their  crews  are  leased  from civilian  companies  –   an  arrangement  similar  to  the  Canadian  Coast  Guard ice  patrols  flown  off  of  Canada's  east  coast.

Increasing Workload  –  Increasing Complexity

Current fleet levels are largely the result of an Australian federal government review of Coastwatch needs in the late 1990s. Because of the increasing number and complexity of the tasks required of Coastwatch, the agency was allocated substantial new resources, including funds for leasing new aircraft and increased crew levels for both maritime and aerial roles. In addition, a new National Surveillance Centre (NSC) was set up to analyze all incoming information, integrate that information, and make plans for the necessary response.

Security Through Depth

Coastwatch  relies  on  the principle of  'security  through  depth'.  Patrol  aircraft (both military and Customs) use a combination of visual and electronic detection methods,  such  as:  powerful  search  radar ,  heat-detecting  (infra-red)  sensors,  and  high-resolution  video  cameras.  The  latter are  useful  for tracking  vessels suspected of smuggling and for recording violations fisheries and environmental regulations. The goal is to find the alien vessel or aircraft and respond well before it can reach shore or  overfly  the  country.  Patrol  boats of  the Customs  Marine Fleet can intercept smaller vessels while, as mentioned above,  RAN  frigates can intercept  larger  ships.  RAAF  patrol  aircraft  are  regularly  made  available  for the  detection  of  both  airborne  and  seaborne  intruders.

Is Canada doing enough to monitor its coastlines?

There are many similarities between Canada's current conditions and those faced by Australia in the past.  In  Canada,  responsibility  for  the patrol of boundaries and enforcement of sovereignty is spread over myriad agencies  –  Customs and Immigration,  Fisheries and Oceans,  the RCMP,  the Canadian Coast Guard,  and the ships and patrol aircraft of the  Canadian Forces.  There is  no central agency to process coastal surveillance information.  Is  Canada doing enough to monitor its  coastlines?  Should  Canada  follow  Australia's  example  and  make  a  single civilian  agency  responsible  for  overall  coastal  patrol?