Peter Khalil (Wills, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

As Australians, we are fortunate to have a level of peace, security and stability that countless others are not able to experience, so we appreciate that. While no-one here would argue that we don't have problems that need addressing in Australia, it is simply a fact that our vibrant democracy, with its regular elections, peaceful transfers of power and universal participation—almost universal—is the envy of many nations around the world.

It can often be easy to take that stability that we enjoy for granted—to understand it as a permanent fixture of Australian life as a 'given'. But the reality is that upholding and protecting that standard of security requires a constant level of vigilance. Our ability to live our lives to the fullest is directly contingent upon our government's ability to keep us safe and secure. This is particularly true when it comes to preventing acts of terrorism.

Across governments of different parties for many years, Australia's security and law enforcement agencies have worked diligently and effectively to minimise the threat of terrorism in our country. As it stands, Australia's national terrorism threat level is at the level of 'possible', meaning that, while Australia remains a potential terrorist target, there are few violent extremists with the intention to conduct an onshore attack. Despite this, we cannot afford to assume the threat of terrorism as ever really having been gone or dealt with. As time goes on, that threat persists and evolves. More recently, the AFP have stated that nationalist and racist extremism have been spreading across the country, particularly in our rural and regional areas, and also in many urban areas—in cities.

As parliamentarians, it is part of our job, through our lawmaking—through amendments to laws, through the passage of new national security bills—to give our security and law enforcement agencies the tools that they need to succeed at their task of keeping us safe. At the same time, our solemn duty is to ensure the civil liberties of the people of Australia, the people that we represent. The fulfilment of both these obligations is evident in this bill that we are debating here today.

The Counter-Terrorism and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2023 would amend key counterterrorism provisions that are designed to protect the country from the threat of terrorism. It enshrines into law part of the government's response to the Parliamentary Joint Committee on Intelligence and Security's review of AFP powers. These changes come from a set of bipartisan recommendations from the PJCIS some two years ago, ones that were extensively worked through with numerous stakeholders. As part of this bill, the changes enhance the operational effectiveness of the AFP's counterterrorism powers and ensure their continuation. At the same time, they place important guardrails on the exercise of those powers to ensure respect for civil liberties. The result is a bill that will help keep Australians safer.

The Counter-Terrorism and Other Legislation Amendment Bill will make a number of amendments to the Crimes Act 1914. First, it will extend the operation of the stop, search and seizure powers of the AFP for a further three years, out to 7 December 2026. This will ensure that police remain equipped to prevent and respond to terrorist acts. It will also guarantee that the provisions are reviewed again in the coming years to ensure they continue to be fit for purpose in light of current threats.

The bill also introduces new requirements for the AFP minister to adhere to before declaring a prescribed security zone. They'll be required to consider the reasonableness and proportionality of doing so, and whether other less invasive powers are available to prevent or respond to a terrorist act. The AFP commissioner would also be required to notify the relevant oversight bodies within 72 hours upon declaring a security zone, providing their rationale to those groups in the process. As a result of this proposed change, those oversight bodies will be able to better investigate and review these declarations.

This bill will also require any police officer who has exercised stop and search powers for a terrorism related item to inform the person in question of their right to make a complaint to an oversight body. As a whole, these proposed changes will make the use of this practice both more ethical and more efficient.

The legislation will also make a number of amendments to the Criminal Code Act 1995. It would extend the operation of the control order and preventive detention order regimes for a further three years, to 7 December 2026. This change is in the bill becomes law enforcement agencies continue to rely upon the control order regime as a critical disruption measure to protect the community from terrorism. Preventive detention orders are also an important measure, albeit an extraordinary one, of last resort that enables police to disrupt terrorist activities. As a safeguard for the usage of these extraordinary measures, the bill limits the power to issue control orders to the Federal Court of Australia and limits those who could be appointed as an issuing authority for preventive detention orders to superior court judges only. This acknowledges the serious and extraordinary nature of these orders, and the significant volume of evidence that must be considered in making these decisions.

The bill introduces a requirement that an issuing court must consider the combined effect of all the conditions in a control order, in addition to the appropriateness of the individual conditions. This will ensure that the totality of the conditions are appropriate in response to the controlee's level of risk, and the bill would allow the court to impose any condition it considers appropriate as part of a control order, in the same way that the court can currently do as part of an extended supervision order. This will provide the court with the greatest discretion to tailor control order conditions to mitigate the specific risk posed by an individual and their circumstances.

In addition, this bill would allow the AFP or the controlee to apply to a court to vary a control order or interim control order by consent, including to add new conditions to the order. This would allow greater flexibility in ensuring that control order conditions remain appropriate if the controlee's circumstances change during the life of the order. Importantly, the bill would require the court to consider the best interests of the controlee in determining whether the variation is appropriate where the controlee is a minor.

This bill would also, in the interests of improving transparency, expand the public reporting requirements in relation to the operation of the post-sentence-order regime, and, in the interests of ensuring the accountability of current and former Commonwealth officers, it extends the sunsetting date of section 122.4 of the Criminal Code by 12 months, to 29 December 2024.

As a whole, this bill is part of the Albanese Labor government's broad commitment to ensuring our institutions are always appropriately resourced and given the necessary powers to respond and defend Australia's sovereignty and security. The government will continue to work responsibly and constructively with our security and law enforcement institutions to meet the challenge posed by the threat of terrorism. At the same time, we recognise the importance of striking the right balance between protecting civil liberties and ensuring that Australians live without the threat of terrorism looming over their everyday lives. That is a task that, as Chair of the Parliamentary Joint Committee on Intelligence and Security, I take especially seriously. This bill strikes that balance. It maintains necessary powers for the government to act in the interests of public safety and ensures the promotion of the rule of law and procedural fairness.

Lastly, I want to thank all of my colleagues on both sides of this chamber who also serve with me on the Parliamentary Joint Committee on Intelligence and Security. Their hard work on the inquiry for this bill is duly noted and acknowledged, as is their continued service on the committee. It has helped and will continue to help the security and safety of all Australians.

Debate adjourned.

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