The AFP and the policing of "social cohesion"
On 12 January 2026 we wrote to Commissioner of the Australian Federal Police in these terms:
Her reply is below. We invite readers to compare it with her testimony to the Federal Parliament. It seems us that in the statements to Parliament, which prompted the letter, the Commissioner is clearly proposing to police lawful political activity and ideological views
Krissy Barrett, Senate Estimates Opening Statement, 10.02.2026:
'[The NSI teams] were set up to target groups and individuals causing high harm to Australia’s social cohesion because I was so concerned about the current and emerging groups and individuals who are eroding the country’s social fabric by advocating hatred, fear, and humiliation...We know who many of these malicious manipulators are. And we know some are getting legal advice to push their hate and their radical recruitment drives to the edge of what is lawful. It means in some cases, particularly with hate preachers, we have not been able to reach the threshold of charging.
I want to be clear about my intent. We will use all our available disruption tools because modern policing is not always about arresting and charging, it includes the benefit of disrupting.
Under my Commissionership, we will disrupt and intervene however and whenever we lawfully can... My advice – if you are one of these groups or individuals – your life will become very uncomfortable. '
Our understanding is that the NSN are looking at whether they can form themselves as a political party. We do see that their activity, more broadly, doesn't actually hit a threshold in terms of criminal offending, but the behaviour is concerning in terms of them pushing towards the line and a threshold that would be considered not violent behaviour but disturbing behaviour, in terms of what it means for how people feel about their safety and how they feel about the social cohesion aspects.
To that extent, the AFP has formed new teams—the National Security Investigations teams—which are looking more towards those fringe elements that are working within society that are causing concern but not actually meeting the threshold. We're looking at where we can actively work in the preventive and disruptive space to dissuade some of those groups from some of their public behaviours.