Rowan Ramsey (Grey, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

I rise to speak on the Counter-terrorism Legislation Amendment Bill (No. 1) 2014, and I would like to thank the member for Melbourne Ports for a fine contribution on what is a quite difficult subject, it must be said. I also thank him for stating his support for the moderate Muslim leaders in Australia who have come out and condemned IS or Daesh and for the opposition's support of these bills. It is to be welcomed.

The bills were introduced by the Attorney-General into the Senate on 24 September and referred to the Parliamentary Joint Committee on Intelligence and Security for review. The committee unanimously recommended 16 fairly minor amendments, which the government has agreed to. I will come to that in a little while.

It would be fair to say that Australia has been shocked by the rise of Islamic State. Perhaps we thought that, after a number of successes by our security forces, the terrorist threat in Australia had been largely seen off. But it is worth remembering that on 11 September 2001, which is widely known around the world now as 9/11, 11 Australians died and, in total, 2,996 died in the attack on the World Trade Centre in New York. In Bali on 12 October 2002, 202 people died, 88 of them Australians. In Bali in 2005, in the attacks in Jimbaran Beach and Kuta, 20 were killed—four Australians. All of these attacks had many, many more injured. Some people to this day are still trying to deal with those injuries.

Those attacks and others, like the subway bombing in Britain and the railway bombing in Madrid, have led to a complete change in the way the free world does business worldwide. Let me dwell a little while on the subway attacks in Britain as so many Australians spend their time in London. I was so impressed with the way that the British nation stood up to this attack and said, 'We won't be bowed.' The next day, they pretty much got on with business as usual. They upped their security, as they had to do, and as we have all done all the way around the world. In fact, it would be fair to say that these attacks on our western democracies, on the free world, have changed the way that we live and have greatly increased the costs of the way that we live. The security arrangements that we now go through, and that we would not have even dreamed of 15 years ago, are a significant and ongoing cost to us all. But, it does not matter what it costs, we will meet the challenge and we will overcome.

We have been involved since that time in action in Afghanistan, and we have had to give up a lot of freedoms we took as reasonable. At airports we have to deal with scanners, longer queues, slower boarding times and higher costs. The bombings have placed that huge financial burden on us. The considerable ramp up by our security agents who have kept us largely safe for the last 10 years—that is, at least, up until now.

ASIO, the Federal Police and the state bodies apprehended Abdul Nacer Benbrika in 2005 for plotting to blow up a football match. Eleven others were also convicted at that time. Benbrika was jailed for 15 years. In 2009, four were arrested for plans to attack an army base. ASIO, the Federal Police and the state police have all done well, but the world is a changing place and we are forced to change with it.

Australians have been appalled by the rise of the bloodthirsty death cult Islamic State and the atrocities it has committed in Syria and Iraq. That is bad enough, but that conflict now—the recruitment and enactment—has come to our shores here in Australia. There has been the ghastly pictures of Khaled Sharrouf with his children holding up the severed heads of Syrian fighters—or perhaps they were not fighters; perhaps they were Syrian civilians. Mohamed Elomar was recruiting from Syria via the internet and advocating terrorist attacks on Australia. Four brothers from one family, who told their family they were going to Thailand for a holiday have ended up as supporters and fighters, we believe, in Syria. They have left their bewildered parents behind, it would seem. What a shock to that family! It shows that this kind of madness can infiltrate almost anywhere.

There have been at least two Australian suicide bombers who were teenagers, and another teenager used for propaganda purposes. There was an unprovoked attack by a young man on two policemen in Melbourne, resulting in one policeman narrowly avoiding losing his life and the teenager losing his life. This is absolute madness and we must stand prepared to do whatever it takes to protect our Australian public.

It is estimated there are 70 Australians fighting in Syria and Iraq, and probably in excess of 150 people in Australia who would like to either join them or support them. The world has changed and Islamic State and others have named the UK, the US, France, Germany and Australia, in particular, as prime targets. We must change as the world has changed, and the Parliamentary Joint Committee on Intelligence and Security has recommended 16 amendments. We have seen this legislation before; I will come to the amendments in a moment.

In effect, these bills allow for the creation of new offences of advocating terrorism and of entering or remaining in a declared zone. That has certainly raised some interest in the Australian public. The bill broadens the criteria and streamlines the process for listing terrorist organisations. The legislation extends instances in which control orders may be sought, extending the sun-setting provisions and the prevention detention order and the control-order regimes, and includes a sunset clause for the declared zone offences. It provides certain law enforcement agencies with additional tools needed to investigate, arrest and prosecute those supporting foreign conflicts. It limits the means of travel for foreign fighting and for support for foreign fighters, and it strengthens the protections at Australian borders.

As I said, the Parliamentary Joint Committee on Intelligence and Security has met and considered this legislation and has come up with 16 different recommendations. I will not go through them all. I had a look, and there are four that stand out to me as making a difference. I congratulate that committee for putting in the elbow grease to get to this point. In particular, recommendation 1, is about the appointment of an independent national security legislation monitor and consideration of additional safeguards. I think this is important because none of us likes to give up any of our freedoms and think that Big Brother may be looking over our shoulder or whatever. We understand that certain things have to be done, but we should have an independent cop on the watch, if you like. This is a good move and probably reassures the Australian public.

Recommendation No. 4 is that the Attorney-General's consent for urgent control orders be obtained within eight hours. That is linked, I think, with recommendation No. 3, the requirement for the Australian Federal Police to provide a statement of facts when seeking the Attorney-General's consent to request an interim control order. These together make sure, once again, that this process does not get out of control. It is very, very important for Australia's long-term future and for our safety that measures such as these do not become anywhere near a political tool but are properly managed for the purpose for which they are designed.

Recommendation No. 6 requires the AFP to explain each of the obligations, prohibitions and restrictions. No. 7 concerns ministerial authorisations and allows for ASIS to more adequately and more easily assist the ADF. Of course, the ADF is at the very pointy end of making a contribution to this issue in Iraq at the moment. It makes sense that our defence forces should be talking most closely with our intelligence services, and that is why these recommendations and the legislation are composed in this way.

On balance, I am absolutely certain that the Australian government is taking the right steps here. We have an absolute obligation to protect our people in Australia and do the best we possibly can to protect them wherever they are in the world. As I said when I opened my remarks, I welcome the support from the opposition and thank them for it.

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