AUSTRALIAN spy agencies have intensified secret operations with the US and Japan, seeking to prise sensitive information out of China, North Korea and Iran, according to leaked US diplomatic cables.
But the allied intelligence effort has been set back by serious concerns over poor security in Japan for handling secret documents.
The insight into co-operation between Japanese, US and Australian intelligence agencies has been provided by secret US embassy cables obtained by WikiLeaks and provided exclusively to the Herald. The cables show a major push by the three countries dating back to 2006 to unite in response to China's growing economic and military might.
A leaked cable from September 2006 reveals that in discussions with Japanese intelligence officials, a senior US official argued strongly for enhanced intelligence co-operation.
''A deep-rooted intelligence relationship could - and should - become part of the bedrock of the US-Japan alliance, just as it was with our British and Australian allies,'' said Randall Fort, head of the US State Department Intelligence and Research Bureau. The leaked US cables show Japanese officials proposed an intensification of intelligence exchanges on regional subjects, and Mr Fort agreed to set up meetings to ''exchange views on China and where it was headed in the next five years''.
The cables reveal that problems posed by North Korea and Iran, together with the threat of terrorism, prompted moves towards greater intelligence co-operation between Tokyo, Washington and Canberra.
In a meeting with senior Japanese Foreign Ministry intelligence officials, Mr Fort urged his counterparts to tap the ''underutilised assets'' represented by the global network of Japanese businesses.
''Japan, with its economic and diplomatic presence in countries like Iran, could draw on insights that would be of great interest to the United States,''
Japan had a ''unique opportunity'' to collect intelligence inside Iran where the US had no embassy, he argued.
''Any diplomatic or intelligence reporting Japan received from Iran, no matter how seemingly mundane, would be extremely valuable to us.''
The cables reveal concerns about Japanese security, reinforced by spy scandals involving China and Russia, constrained US and Australian co-operation with Japan.
In his 2006 discussions, Mr Fort called on Japan to take ''additional steps to improve internal controls over classified information''. He also offered to share Washington's experiences in handling classified information.
Mr Fort suggested Japan study how the Australian government had tackled this issue.
Australian intelligence and security agencies implemented improved security after an agreement between John Howard and President George Bush to give Australia greater access to secret US information.
''The Australians have done an outstanding job of protecting classified information,'' Mr Fort said.
Japanese officials acknowledged the need for improved security, but emphasised reform was difficult and dependent on political attention.
In November 2008, Mr Fort discussed the issue of intelligence co-operation with Japan with senior Australian intelligence officials, the cables revealed.
The director of the Defence Intelligence Organisation, Major- General Maurie McNarn, and his deputy, Michael Shoebridge, ''agreed that there were signs of progress within senior ranks of the Japanese regarding trilateral US-AUS-JPN efforts against countries of mutual concern - particularly within the defence intelligence establishment against such themes as North Korean [weapons of mass destruction] and China's naval capabilities''.
