The Age

The federal government was today accused of spying on Australian citizens by intercepting private phone calls to the Norwegian ship involved in the asylum seeker crisis.

Opposition leader Simon Crean said if the allegations were true the government's behaviour had been outrageous and unAustralian.

He demanded an explanation from Prime Minister John Howard.

Transcripts of phone conversations between the International Transport Federation, Maritime Union of Australia and the crew of the MV Tampa were used by the government to formulate a political response after the ship rescued 438 boat people near Christmas Island last year, The Daily Telegraph reported today.

The Defence Signals Directorate (DSD) at Geraldton in Western Australia intercepted the phone calls after the ship was boarded by SAS troops.

DSD is not supposed to pick up and pass Australian calls to the government, except under extreme circumstances, such as serious criminal offences, a threat to life and safety of Australians or an Australian acting as a foreign power.

Mr Crean said if the report was true the government had spied on Australians.

"Well I think it's outrageous, it's unAustralian and it shows that the government is prepared to stop at nothing," Mr Crean told Sydney radio 2UE.

A spokesman for Defence Minister Robert Hill today said all DSD collection and reporting activities were conducted in accordance with Australian law and followed strict rules.

DSD is part of the Defence Department, and at the time of the alleged interceptions the department was under the command of minister Peter Reith.

Mr Crean questioned Mr Reith's role in the affair.

"This was a minister that we knew was prepared to resort to all sorts of underhand tactics in relation to the waterfront dispute now prepared to use similar tactics to pursue political gain," he said.

"I think that the real issue is not just what they did then, but who else has been spied on and what does John Howard know about these circumstances."

Mr Crean said he was not against the technology used to tap the calls, but did not support its unauthorised use for the government's political gain.

Opposition immigration spokeswoman Julia Gillard also called for an explanation from the government.

"Well it's an absolute disgrace," Ms Gillard told Channel Seven's Sunrise program.

"This isn't a genuine defence matter, this is about spying on Australian citizens to assist with putting together a political strategy around the Tampa, it's not why the government's got powers to listen to telephone calls."

Leading defence expert Professor Des Ball, from the Australian National University's strategic and defence study centre, called for a judicial inquiry into the allegations.

"I think we need to know not only what DSD intercepted and indeed they intercept just about everything that's around, but more importantly, how that was processed and what of the intercepts were actually transmitted to the government and then what use was made of that intelligence for political purposes.

"These are all momentous questions that the public really does deserve to know answers."

Restrictions on DSD were in place to protect people's privacy and questions must now be asked about the use of material received, he said.

"We're told every year in annual reports by DSD and by the InspectorGeneral and by the Department of Defence that whenever instances of Australian material turn up in the intercepts they are immediately deleted," Prof Ball said.

"And we're told that over and over again.

"I've always tended to believe those assurances but now I'm really not so sure."

Govt statement

A spokeswoman for Senator Hill said DSD's performance was monitored and was subject to parliamentary supervision.

"I can say that all of DSD collection and reporting activities are conducted in accordance with Australian laws and there are strict rules in place ensuring that DSD protects the privacy of Australians," she said.

"DSD's performance in relation to these rules is monitored by the Inspector-General of Intelligence and Security who provides an annual report to the Australian parliament.

"Since October 2001 DSD's activities have been covered by the Intelligence Security Act 2001 and are subject to parliamentary oversight."

AAP