Malcolm Turnbull (Wentworth, Liberal Party, Prime Minister) Share this | Hansard source

I thank the honourable member for his question. The Office of Transport Security is responsible for the categorisation of security at controlled airports and it determined, as the honourable member said, in 2014 that the threat environment did not require the presence of AFP officers there. That risk assessment was based on the advice of the AFP and the intelligence agencies. I have spoken today again to Deputy Commissioner National Security of the Australian Federal Police and he has advised me that the risk profile has not changed. Tasmania Police provide community policing and crime prevention support at the airport in the same way that police provide services at other Australian airports.

The AFP has a presence in Tasmania and works seamlessly with Tasmania Police and all of our law enforcement and national security agencies. Those men and women are in the front line, keeping us safe. They put their lives on the line. They are the best in the world. On Monday, we saw in Queensland the tragic murder of Senior Constable Brett Forte—a police officer who, like too many before him, lost his life in the line of duty. Our condolences and our love go to his wife, his children, his family and his colleagues.

The threat of Islamist terrorism, the threat of this extremist violence, is here at home and it is right around the world. We saw last night a young 12-year-old Australian girl killed by a terrorist attack, an ISIL attack, in Baghdad. She was visiting Baghdad with her family during Ramadan to see her grandfather—another innocent killed by this violent terrorist movement that is gnawing away, seeking to destroy and pervert and blaspheme one of the great religions of the world. Our police officers and our intelligence agencies are on the front line of keeping us safe in that battle.

Our allies, our best collaborators, are our Muslim leaders both at home and abroad, like President Widodo in Indonesia, who remind us, and say repeatedly, that they stand for an Islam that is moderate, that is tolerant, that is democratic. That is their commitment. They are our best allies in this battle. But at the forefront stand those police officers and those intelligence agencies. We have given them, and are giving them, more support both in law, in legislation, and in resources than ever before, and we will continue to do so to keep all Australians and all Tasmanians safe.

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