Australia’s Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) is still using the controversial Chinese-made Da Jiang Innovations (DJI) drones despite other government departments, such as the Australian Border Force (ABF), ceasing their use in May.
DFAT’s chief security officer, Joe Talbot, confirmed the drones’ use during a Senate estimates hearing on June 1.
“We do indeed have some of those devices, but we’re in a process at the moment of replacing that equipment,” Talbot said, adding that 13 DJI drones were currently being used by DFAT and a further two by Austrade.
“We did do a risk assessment on those, and they are not in areas which would cause us concern, specifically, they are used for public diplomacy.”…