Aust intelligence lagging: claim.

(From Canberra Times)

America believes Australia is not providing its fair share of intelligence, a parliamentary committee has been told.

However, Defence Strategy Deputy Secretary Shane Carmody rejected the claims of University of Queensland international relations lecturer Carl Ungerer.

Dr Ungerer said Australia had to devote more resources to intelligence if it was to remain a valued partner in the international community.

''I believe there is a perception among some allied intelligence agencies, including in the US, that Australia has been failing in its 'burden sharing' responsibilities for a number of years,'' he said.

''The evidence for this is anecdotal and is based mainly on personal conversations with former colleagues in the US, Canada and the UK. But, if it is correct, it suggests a more fundamental problem with the Australian intelligence community than [it] or the Government had been willing to admit.'' Dr Ungerer said this was more to do with the analytical community than intelligence collectors, but there was also a lingering perception that Australia was not doing enough on the collection front in south- east Asia.

He pointed to a decline in the ...