Andrew Hastie (Canning, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

On behalf of the Parliamentary Joint Committee on Intelligence and Security, I present the committee's report entitled Annual report of committee activities 2015-16.

  Report made a parliamentary paper in accordance with standing order 39(e).

by leave—I am pleased to present the committee's annual report for 2015-16. The national focus on counter-terrorism measures continued throughout 2015-16 with further legislative reform leading to significant activity by the committee.

The committee maintained its bipartisan approach to reviewing proposed changes to Australia's national security legislation and in 2015-16 concluded inquiries into the Australian Citizenship Amendment (Allegiance to Australia) Bill and the Counter-Terrorism Legislation Amendment Bill. Across these two inquiries, the committee made 41 recommendations that sought to strengthen the provisions of each bill and ensure that they included appropriate safeguards and oversight mechanisms. I note that the government accepted all of the committee's recommendations.

The committee also continued to fulfil its key statutory oversight responsibilities. The Intelligence Services Act requires the committee to review the administration and expenditure of the six Australian intelligence agencies on an annual basis. The committee completed its review for 2013-14, concluding that agencies were overseeing their administration and expenditure appropriately.

As it had in previous years, the committee looked closely at the impact of the efficiency dividend and other savings measures on agencies. It sought assurances that each agency continue to have the necessary resources to address Australia's national security priorities. The committee noted that increases to the ongoing funding of intelligence agencies and the Office of National Assessments exemption from the efficiency dividend addressed the committee's concerns that funding cuts to agencies were affecting ongoing capability or operations. The committee has continued to monitor these issues in its subsequent reviews, which it will report upon in its next annual report.

Also during this period, the committee conducted its second review of the Australian Federal Police's performance of its functions under part 5.3 of the Criminal Code, which contains the Commonwealth terrorism offences, control order regime and preventative detention order regime. The committee also reviewed and supported the re-listing of five terrorist organisations.

Our evolving security environment has required the expansion of the functions, oversight and security responsibilities of the committee. Following the expansion of the committee's functions that occurred in 2014-15, the committee obtained additional responsibilities following passage of the Australian Citizenship Amendment (Allegiance to Australia) Bill. This included the requirement that the committee review the operation, effectiveness and implications of certain parts of the Australian Citizenship Act 2007 by 1 December 2019 and an ongoing power to review any declaration of a 'terrorist organisation' under that act.

The committee accepts that recent operational experience has demonstrated that our legislation must adapt to the evolving threats facing Australia, so that our security and law enforcement agencies are agile enough to protect the Australian people.

Of course, as a liberal democracy, we must always seek to balance our security measures against the freedom of all Australians from unconstitutional government interference in our lives.

The scrutiny and oversight functions performed by the Parliamentary Joint Committee on Intelligence and Security hold the intelligence agencies and national security powers accountable to the Australian people.

I commend the report to the House.

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