News Desk
CANBERRA: Australia is set to remove Chinese-made surveillance cameras at government buildings across the country over national security fears.
It comes after an audit, conducted by the shadow cybersecurity minister, James Paterson, found that more than 900 items of surveillance equipment built by Chinese companies Hikvision and Dahua were installed at government locations.
It also revealed that cameras and security gear were present in more than 200 buildings, in almost every department – including the foreign affairs and attorney general’s departments.
UK, US banned Chinese products from govt sites in 2022
The UK and US also removed Chinese equipment from government locations last year, citing fears the device data may be accessed by Beijing. The US Federal Communications Commission warned of an “unacceptable risk to national security” due to possible espionage and spyware.
Hikvision termed those fears unfounded. While Dahua has not yet commented on the matter.
Defence Minister and Deputy Prime Minister Richard Marles said in an interview on Thursday that the government would remove the cameras from any defence sites to make them “completely secure”.
“I don’t think we should overstate it but I feel it is right to be doing the assessment and making sure that we deal with that and that is what we are going to do.”
He said significant issues had been identified and that the federal government was determined to “fix” them, although he didn’t mention a time period.
