Philip Ruddock (Berowra, Liberal Party, Attorney-General) Share this | Hansard source

Yes, gentle advice—very gentle—and I intend to continue to be gentle, even with the member for Brisbane. I come in here and find that there are some amendments which, if he had given them to us in advance, we might have been able to help him with. But he proposes to move an amendment which seeks to require the director-general to give an issuing authority a copy of the statement of facts and grounds. The act already requires this at section 34C(4). It already requires it; it is in the act. There may have been somebody else he would like to see given that information but the amendment asks that the issuing authority be given such a statement—the act already requires it. I only mention those matters helpfully because I do not wish to be critical; I hope for enthusiastic support for these measures.

In the context of some of the arguments that we have had today, particularly about the length of the sunset clause and related matters, it really depends upon your perception as to what risks we face and how long you think we are likely to continue to face them. I would like somebody to tell me that within three years terrorist threats will have gone away but I do not hear anybody making that assertion. I know that some people get lulled into a false sense of security and assume that nothing could happen here. I simply say that nothing could be further from the truth. This legislation is designed to assist the relevant agencies that have shown a capacity to help us deal with these situations. There have been people charged with terrorist offences in Australia and convicted; there are a further group of people at present under charge. Our security agencies have played a significant role in relation to these matters. The point I want to make is that we are resourcing our agencies to meet the challenge that we face. We have done so after the Taylor review. The member for Brisbane suggested that, while we are expanding the roles of the agencies, we were not additionally resourcing the Inspector-General of Intelligence and Security.

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