Lucy Wicks (Robertson, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

Thank you, Mr Deputy Speaker, I will do so. Crucially, we are keeping Australia safe. More than 50,000 illegal boat people arrived on Labor's watch, creating an $11.6 billion blow-out in border protection costs. Now we have all but stopped the boats, which many claimed was impossible and, as we see in this bill now before the House, we have responded to the threat of extremism with new counter-terrorism measures.

This government will do everything possible to keep people safe; our security measures at home and abroad are directed against terrorism, not religion; and Australians should always live normally, because terrorists' goal is to scare people. These are three important principles that this government has enunciated.

This government is putting these messages into action in a number of ways. This includes providing an additional $630 million to give our police, intelligence and security services the resources they need. There are now stronger measures at international airports and many public buildings to deter extremists, and we are also urgently updating counter-terrorism legislation. The foreign fighters bill, which was assented to by this parliament on 3 November, fills the most pressing gaps and will tailor many of our existing powers and defences to address the new threat of home-grown terrorism.

The terrorists' methods have changed, so our legislation needs to change too. We are facing a new kind of terrorist, different to the 9/11 generation. Of course we will never forget those attacks. It is also 12 years since we were rocked by the tragedy of the Bali bombings, which were a shocking attack on Australians. As a nation we are aware of the long-term damage that this can have.

But we also face a new threat from a new generation of evil. We are battling the threat of home-grown, lone wolf attackers. These terrorists, often teenagers inspired and directed by ISIL and other groups reaching out from afar, are becoming self-radicalised on-line. They are not planning—and often do not have the ability or knowledge—the sorts of attacks that we witnessed in horror on the World Trade Center. We are now faced with the threat of simple, low-technology attacks which require little preparation, training or capability.

So by understanding that terrorists are changing the way they act, it is up to Australia to adapt by updating our counter-terrorism legislation. In short, we must have strong laws to deal with this threat, which the Prime Minister has aptly described as a 'death cult.' And that is what we are doing in this bill. We need to act.

We are seeking to address urgent needs that have been identified by our intelligence, defence and law enforcement agencies. This includes the deployment of the Australian Defence Force to undertake military operations against the ISIL death cult in Iraq. And it includes the recent Operation Appleby, which disrupted an alleged terrorist attack in Sydney.

We have also been working to improve this legislation. These measures are not targeted at any religion or any community. In fact, as the member for Ryan said earlier in this place, 'In an ideal world we would not even need this bill.' But as this government and most Australians know we must be prepared and responsible in these serious matters.

So I take this opportunity to commend the work of the Parliamentary Joint Committee on Intelligence and Security. The committee made 16 unanimous recommendations including, most importantly, that the bill be passed. And I am pleased to confirm, again, to the House that following consultation with all relevant agencies, the government has decided to accept in principle all of the recommendations in the report. Importantly, the final recommendation of the PJCIS is that the bill be passed.

I would like to touch on some of these recommendations today that underline just how important it is that we respond to our rapidly changing global environment. One of the recommendations we are endorsing is the requirement for the Australian Federal Police to provide a statement of facts when seeking an interim control order from the Attorney-General. That is recommendation 3 from the committee, from schedule 1 of the Criminal Code Act 1995 amendments. The bill currently requires the Australian Federal Police to provide the Attorney-General with a draft of the interim control order to be requested, information about the person's age and a summary of the grounds on which the order should be made.

The bill will be amended so that the Australian Federal Police must now also provide a statement of facts about why the order should or should not be made. At this point, I would also like to commend the Australian Federal Police. The arrest of six men in Sydney on the weekend for drug importation was the second largest drug seizure in Australia's history.

The Joint Organised Crime Group, including the Australian Federal Police, the New South Wales Police, the Australian Customs and Border Protection Service, the State Crime Commission and the Australian Crime Commission stopped almost 2.8 tonnes of MDMA and methamphetamine, with a street value in excess of $1.5 billion. It has put a major dent in the operations of organised crime in Australia and, importantly, has made sure these drugs do not reach our streets.

Thousands of lives have potentially been saved, including those of people in my electorate, as a result of this excellent work. Only last week, the Salvation Army highlighted the increased use of the drug ice on the Central Coast. And I am pleased to have this opportunity, just for a moment, to thank our law enforcement agencies for their work in getting these drugs out of the hands of dealers and traffickers. When we hear about these seizures, it brings threats close to home.

Importantly, this bill that we are speaking on today enhances and improves the ability of law enforcement and intelligence agencies to respond to threats through necessary and urgent amendments to national security legislation. This bill underlines how we are serious about enhancing the control of the Australian Federal Police and streamlining the application process. Under this bill we are facilitating the Australian Secret Intelligence Service when it is supporting and cooperating with the Australian Defence Force on military operations. And we are enhancing the arrangements for the provision of emergency ministerial authorisations to intelligence agencies to undertake activities.

I would like to touch on another recommendation that will help keep Australia safe, by lowering the terror threat at home and abroad. Recommendation 2 of schedule 1 describes how the terms 'supports' and 'facilitates' should be based on language in the existing Criminal Code. The Criminal Code uses these terms but does not define them. That is, the terms have their ordinary meaning and are appropriately left for the courts to determine. That is exactly how the terms are treated in the bill.

Recommendation 6 will also assist in this package of amendments to help keep Australia safe. As part of this bill, it will allow the Australian Federal Police to request and issue a court to make a control order in relation to those who 'enable' and those who 'recruit'. Although these individuals may not directly participate in terrorist acts, by providing funds and equipment or by recruiting vulnerable young people to champion their cause and, sadly, even to die for it, is instrumental to carrying out acts of terror.

Contrary to some inaccurate reporting, these amendments will not enable ASIS to kill Australians or others. Their role is to provide intelligence support to the ADF. In short, the government must ensure the Australian Federal Police is in the best position to protect its personnel and this measure helps achieve this objective.

I am pleased to be advised that all of the existing safeguards and oversight mechanisms in the Intelligence Services Act 2001 will continue to apply and I understand that strong oversight mechanisms will also apply to the arrangements for emergency ministerial authorisations.

I thank the committee for its exhaustive time in going through each recommendation in such detail. Finally, I would also like to highlight recommendation 1, which is the appointment of the Independent National Security Legislation Monitor. The government will also task the newly appointed monitor to consider whether the additional safeguards recommended in the 2013 Council of Australian Governments review of Counter-Terrorism Legislation should be introduced. The government firmly supports independent oversight of national security and counter-terrorism legislation and accepts the urgency to appoint this monitor.

In conclusion, this is a bill that is part of our commitment to build a safe and secure Australia. It is our obligation and duty to keep Australia as safe as humanly possible and, in times like these, when we need to make tough, important decisions for our future, it is an honour to commend this bill to the House.

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