Tony Abbott (Warringah, Liberal Party, Prime Minister) Share this | Hansard source

I do thank the member for Petrie for his question. As we have been reminded yet again overnight, the terrorist threat to our people, to our institutions and to our way of life is real. It is real here and it is real in other similar countries. As I have said before, in a peaceful democracy we are reluctant to reach out to conflicts overseas, but those conflicts are reaching out to us. There are at least 60 Australians, that we know of, fighting with ISIL and other terrorist groups in the Middle East. There are at least 100 that we know of supporting them with recruitment and funding. Almost 70 Australians have now had their passports cancelled to prevent them from joining terrorist groups overseas.

Last month an extremist fanatic attacked two policemen in Victoria, and this week we have had two attacks in Canada. The ISIL death cult has declared war on the world, not because of anything that we have done but because of who we are and how we live. It is important that we respond effectively. The government has provided an additional $630 million over four years to our security agencies. We are strengthening the laws on agency powers and, in the parliament over this sitting period, on foreign fighters. Again I wish to thank the Leader of the Opposition for his strong bipartisan support.

Importantly, we are significantly upgrading security here at Parliament House as we have in our community more generally. Following a review six weeks ago, there are now armed officers in this building at all times, and there are lockdown procedures in place if required. Importantly, the Australian Federal Police are in charge of security both outside and inside this building, which is as it should be. I want to thank you, Madam Speaker, and the President of the Senate, for the way you have handled this matter.

I want to assure everyone working in or visiting this building that your safety is paramount. As always, this government will do whatever is possible to keep our people safe. All our efforts are directed against terrorism, not religion, and I urge Australians to live normally, because the objective of the terrorists is to scare us from being ourselves.

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