transferred them to the Australian Taxation Office, with 248 staff transferred by July 1999 and the end of a 98-year history of collecting excise duties on manufactured alcohol, tobacco and petroleum products. In 1999, the Australian Customs Service conducted its first support role for United Nations in assisting to establish border control in East Timor, following the 1999 East Timorese crisis. In January 2001, the Australian Customs Service celebrated 100 years of service with the Centenary of Federation. Border Protection Command (BPC) was established in 2005 as the leader and coordinator of Australian maritime security operations. It brought together elements of the Australian Defence Force, Australian Fisheries Management Authority, Australian Maritime Safety Authority, and the Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry. As part of the introduction of BPC, the Australian Customs Service and Royal Australian Navy take the lead on commanding and controlling Operation Resolute. In December 2008 then Prime Minister Kevin Rudd announced that the Australian Government would be augmenting, re-tasking and renaming the Australian Customs Service to create the new Australian Customs and Border Protection Service. Royal assent was given to the changes on 22 May 2009 and the Australian Customs and Border Protection Service was established thereafter, remaining within the Attorney General's Department. 2009–2015 – Australian Customs and Border Protection Service Operation Sovereign Borders was announced in September 2013 by Minister for Immigration and Border Protection Scott Morrison and Lieutenant General Angus Campbell as a Joint Agency Task Force to bring together 16 different agencies to coordinate the whole-of-government response to illegal maritime arrivals. The Australian Customs and Border Protection Service is then formally moved from the Attorney General's Department to the newly formed Department of Immigration and Border Protection. In May 2014, Morrison announced large changes to the border protection arrangements within Australia, through the consolidation of all frontline immigration and customs functions in a single organisation, the Australian Border Force. As a result, Regional Commands are established across Australia to provide local Command and Control functions. Each Regional Command became responsible for the deployment of Border Force Officers in specified geographic areas to achieve strategic outcomes. The Australian Border Force was formally established on 1 July 2015. The new agency to be based on the hybrid of the United Kingdom Border Force model. 2015–present – Australian Border Force The ABF was established on 1 July 2015 merging the Australian Customs and Border Protection Service with