Michael Keenan (Stirling, Liberal Party, Shadow Minister for Justice, Customs and Border Protection) Share this | Hansard source

I rise to welcome the Attorney-General's tabling of the annual report of the Independent National Security Legislation Monitor and the Council of Australian Governments Review of counter-terrorism legislation. The coalition looks forward to giving careful consideration to these two documents. The suite of federal, state and territory laws that comprise our counterterrorism regime were controversial at the time when they were introduced and, mercifully, there have only been a few instances in which they have needed to be invoked, at least to their full extent. However, it cannot be denied that the threat of terrorism persists.

I endorse the Attorney-General's observation that, in light of the recent terror attack in Boston, it is clear that the maintenance of our counterterrorism capabilities is as important as it ever was and that, as the Attorney-General also observed, in keeping with our own traditions and way of life, the maintenance of these capabilities must be done in a just and accountable way. That is why in 2005, when the national suite of legislation was enacted by agreement amongst the Commonwealth, the states and the territories, the relevant governments agreed at COAG that the necessity and effectiveness of the laws should be subject to a coordinated review.

The annual report of the independent monitor is particularly welcomed by the coalition. The monitor was established only after a concerted effort on the part of the coalition back when the Rudd government was still young. A bill for the establishment of an independent monitor was introduced by the then member for Kooyong, Petro Georgiou, in early 2008. Mr Georgiou was immediately gagged by the Leader of the House, the member for Grayndler. In the other place an identical bill was introduced, by the then Liberal senator for Victoria Senator Judith Troeth, where it passed despite being opposed by the government. However, the government prevented it from proceeding beyond its first reading in this place. The government finally introduced its own flawed legislation, which only passed the parliament in 2010 after extensive amendment to ensure the monitor's independence. The coalition therefore derives considerable satisfaction from the tabling of the monitor's annual report.

The principle behind the establishment of the independent monitor and the COAG review is the protective principle. It is to add to the armoury of parliamentary surveillance another mechanism designed to ensure that the counterterrorism laws, which were amended so as to expand the executive and policing powers of the state in extraordinary times by introducing into our laws extraordinary measures, are not allowed to become ordinary measures by the passing of time. The government and the parliament were of the view that some traditional protections should be reviewed and the policing functions of the state should be extended through devices such as preventative detention and control orders, which were very controversial at the time, in service of the fundamental obligation of governments and parliaments—that is, to protect the public interest.

Those of us who remember those debates also remember that the government that introduced them, the Howard government, made it clear that these were extraordinary measures. It is to be hoped that the time comes when these laws are no longer necessary. However, it is clear, as the Attorney-General did observe, that that time is not yet. In the meantime it is appropriate that all Australian governments remain vigilant as to the appropriate use of these laws, and that is why the coalition welcomes the statement here today.

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