Secretary Janet Napolitano discusses the evolving security challenges facing the US, Australia, and their international partners, and the need for a cooperative approach to meeting these challenges that also protects the rights and liberties of individuals, including the critical right to privacy.
Janet Napolitano is the third Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security and is leading the United States collective effort to secure their country from the threats ranging from terrorism to natural disasters.
To counter the threat of terrorism, Napolitano has forged new partnerships with international allies, and expanded information sharing with federal, state and local law enforcement - building a collaborative effort to detect and disrupt threats early on.
She has initiated a new, more strategic course to strengthen security along the southwest border, deploying additional personnel and advanced technology, while working closely with Mexico to combat violent international drug cartels - resulting in increased seizures of illegal contraband along the border and throughout the country's interior.
Napolitano also has forged a smart and effective approach to enforcing immigration laws and prioritising public safety while targeting criminal aliens and aggressively pursuing employers that knowingly take advantage of illegal labor.
She has strengthened the nation's ability to prepare for, respond to and recover from disasters by cutting through red tape and expediting decision-making along the Gulf Coast, providing new resources to build resilient communities and bolster their response capabilities, and calling on all Americans to play a role in the shared responsibility of making their homeland secure.
