Rob Mitchell (McEwen, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

I rise to speak on the Counter-Terrorism Legislation Amendment (High Risk Terrorist Offenders) Bill 2020. Keeping communities safe is one of the highest orders of government. One of our most important priorities as members of this place is to make sure that we keep our communities safe and free from harm. There are many threats which face our country. These are threats like the pandemic, which all of us have felt one way or another over the past two years. We face threats of climate change and the devastating impacts for our country. There are threats of poverty and violence. And, of course, there is the threat of terrorism. Terrorism poses a clear and substantial danger to the safety of our country and the wellbeing of our communities. Imposing smart, effective, proportionate policies to deal with the risk of terrorism and high-risk offenders should have been a priority of the Morrison government. It's disappointing that it has taken this long for the government to finally address this issue.

The bill before the House seeks to implement a recommendation made by the Independent National Security Legislation Monitor in 2017 to establish a federal extended supervision order regime. Under a supervision order an offender would be released from custody into the community at the end of their sentence but would be required to comply with prohibitions, restrictions and obligations that are, in the court's view, reasonably necessary and appropriate and adapted to protecting the community. The standard of proof that would apply to extended supervision orders would be on the balance of probabilities, as determined by the court, that that individual poses an unacceptable risk of committing serious terrorism offences. These extended supervision orders would allow for appropriate authorities to monitor those offenders deemed to be a high risk to the community.

At present, state and territory Supreme Courts are able to make only continuing detention orders, and Federal Courts are unable to issue such a detention order, instead being allowed to make only control orders. This has resulted in a situation in which the states are able to bring in only continuing detention orders if they deem that individuals still may pose a risk to the community after their sentence, as opposed to being able to implement control orders, which would be equally effective and less persuasive. Allowing the state courts to make extended supervision orders would provide an effective means of protecting our communities from offenders deemed to be a high risk, without the need for ongoing detention of offenders after their sentences have concluded. At present, it's only the federal courts that are able to make ongoing order controls for high-risk offenders. As such, the primary benefit of this bill is its capacity to address the current lack of interoperability between continuing detention orders and control orders such as the ongoing supervision that this bill proposes due to the different jurisdictions from which these orders must be sought. As such, this bill provides a greater array of tools with which the courts may be able to ensure the safety of our community with regard to high-risk terrorist offenders and ensures the proportionality of post sentence orders.

For issues that are complex, such as terrorism, it's essential that our state and federal courts have the greatest capacity possible to respond appropriately to those who may present a threat to this nation. We know that the threat of terrorism is real, and this bill has the capacity to significantly assist relevant jurisdictions in confronting and minimising the threat of terrorism to our country. But it is disappointing that after eight years in government the government is only now addressing such a substantial and concerning gap in the capacity of the courts to manage the risks associated with high-risk offenders. The procrastination of the Abbott, Turnbull and Morrison governments on issues such as this, which are of considerable concern to many Australians, is further evidence of the government's lack of urgency in addressing issues that are crucial to the safety of Australia. Australian safety, whether from COVID, future pandemics or indeed terrorism, should be treated as an issue of the highest priority to the federal government. Instead, as we've seen with so many issues that are important to the safety of this nation, the Morrison government has procrastinated on its responsibility to work in the best interests of Australians. It's always too little and always too late.

This bill is fundamentally about ensuring that we have proportionate legislation with which to protect our communities. We face many threats as a country, and as members of parliament it's our duty to legislate to fill those gaps within existing public policy that put Australians at risk. As I said, it's disappointing that it's taken eight long years for this government to address such a substantial issue. It's never been more clear that an Albanese Labor government is in the best interests of Australians—a government that puts the interests of Australians first and acts quickly on the issues that pose a risk to the safety of our communities. Throughout time we have seen terrorism both onshore and offshore that's impacted the lives of Australians. It's so important that we make sure that those who commit these heinous crimes are held responsible and that those who do their time and do their punishment are monitored to ensure that we look after the values that Australia holds so dearly.

But we need to know why. The government should explain why it's taken four years to get to this situation, after reports from its own supported committees have said there is a need for this and that we need to do it soon. The intelligence and security committee made those 11 unanimous and bipartisan recommendations. We know that most of those recommendations have been included in the bill and that the government broadly agrees with some of them. But we need to make sure they're all put in place. This is a paramount thing that we should be doing in this place—ensuring that our citizens are safe and our communities are stronger.

The bipartisan work of the intelligence and security committee is so important. It shows that this place can work properly. But there's always that extra step of making sure the executive branch of the government in this country follows through on those things. The importance of the committee's work can never be underestimated. That's why Labor is going to support this bill, and we support the government amendments to implement the unanimous and bipartisan recommendations of the PJCIS. What we are saying is that if the government fails to move the amendments to implement one or more of the unanimous and bipartisan positions of the PJCIS then an Albanese Labor government will commit to implementing those recommendations if we win the next election, because we're on the side of Australians. We want to look after their safety and we want to see this nation prosper, and that will happen only with a government that works in the national interest, not in its own interest. Thank you.

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