Andrew Wallace (Fisher, Liberal National Party) Share this | Hansard source

I thank the member for Fremantle for his kind words. I return the serve and thank him and the member for Bruce, in particular, and also the chair for their service on the committee. It is arguably, I believe, the most important committee in this parliament. It's been a privilege and an honour for me to serve alongside those three gentlemen, and I wish them well in their future endeavours.

We all know, and often say, that Australia is facing the most geopolitically unstable period since 1945. There doesn't seem to be any difference of opinion on that issue, and, in fact, that goes for the entire world. We've seen war in Europe. We are seeing a war in the Middle East. We have domestic conflicts and revolutions across the Americas, Africa and the Indo-Pacific. Australia remains totally unequipped to contend with the grave national security threats posed by those who would do us harm. Just this month the Director-General of Security raised Australia's terror threat level from possible to probable, highlighting the growing lack of social cohesion, the growing extremism and both physical and digital vulnerabilities.

The government, intelligence, Defence and law enforcement agencies, who are tasked with protecting Australians, must be equipped with the tools that they need. This legislation, building on the coalition's strong record in government, provides just that. The declared areas provisions we're debating today were inserted into the Criminal Code in 2014, through the Counter-Terrorism Legislation Amendment (Foreign Fighters) Bill 2014. At the time of the passage of that legislation, the Australian Labor Party, the Australian Greens and various Independents and crossbenchers did not immediately come to the table. The Greens, in particular, were ardent in their opposition. These are the same Greens who have joined the rally cries of Hamas terrorists today, the same Greens who have encouraged the vandalism of war memorials, the same Greens who have made it their policy to break down Australia's borders and international alliances, the same Greens who have fuelled deplorable antisemitism and hate and the same Greens that this Labor government want to empower with seats on the PJCIS and on the proposed defence joint standing committee—in what is quickly emerging as a radical coalition of the left.

The provisions in this legislation have been used to declare areas twice in both 2014 and 2018. The areas declared were al-Raqqa Province in Syria and the Mosul district in Ninewa Province in Iraq. In Syria, a civil war devolved into a conglomeration of proxy conflicts, tribalistic terror and a fight between Assad and the rebels desperately clambering for power. In Iraq, the Islamic State terror group sought to destabilise democratic progress in Iraq and across the Middle East. Those travelling to these locations outside of legitimate and official humanitarian, diplomatic or military reasons had no reason to travel to these locations. Despite conflict in Ukraine and across the Middle East, as well as increasing tensions and armed conflict across Africa, Asia and South America, there are no current declared areas listed under this legislation.

The Parliamentary Joint Committee on Intelligence and Security has reviewed and reported on the declared areas provisions on three occasions—in 2018, 2021 and now 2024. On the first two occasions the committee recommended that the provisions be extended. This year a third review tabled this week—in fact, just now—recommended that the bill be passed with a review before the powers sunset in 2027. I think all members would agree that that sunsetting is vitally important. As the member for Wannon indicated, no-one wants to see these powers go for a minute longer than they are necessary. The aim of these reviews would be to clarify and strengthen the safeguards, protocols and penalties applicable to those powers which can be exercised by the Minister for Foreign Affairs.

The declared area offence was designed to fill a crucial gap in the disruption and prosecution of returning foreign terrorist fighters, to deter Australians from travelling to these hostile locations and to break the chain of radicalisation. The Director-General of Security, Mike Burgess, highlighted the need for a declared area provision in this legislation when he said:

If we look at our security environment and what's happening globally, we continue to keep a close eye on developments in Afghanistan, further into the Middle East and in Africa. We could well see the need to have the government call on this in terms of our toolkit to respond to the terrorist threat in the future. It's a very real possibility.

This legislation is essential for the peace and prosperity of our country. It prevents Australian lives being lost at home and abroad and it prevents one avenue for radicalisation and organised crime. But this legislation is only effective if a competent government exercises its powers appropriately, effectively and swiftly. We must see these powers exercised as a matter of urgency as the conflict in the Middle East continues to escalate.

In particular, the case is mounting to list southern Lebanon as a declared area. When I talk about southern Lebanon, I'm talking about the demilitarised zone south of the Litani River, consistent with the UN Security Council's Resolution 1701. During a PJCIS hearing on 20 May, I asked our security agencies whether it was time to proscribe areas like southern Lebanon under these powers and whether any consideration had been given to this proposal. ASIO advised at the time that, while no formal requests for advice had been received on any particular areas it would consider worthy of listing, there were general conversations occurring within government.

As we speak right now, the security situation deteriorates in the north of Israel, and there is a very real risk of a conflagration in Israel and in Lebanon. I would implore the government to look at designating the southern Lebanon area I mentioned earlier as a declared area. Southern Lebanon is controlled by Hezbollah, an organisation which is funded by Iran. They have made very clear what their intentions are, and those intentions are to attack Israel and wipe Israel off the face of the map. When they talk about 'from the river to the sea', that is exactly what they mean: wiping Israel off the face of the map and killing every Israeli in Israel. It would be very prudent and timely for this government to consider a declaration in southern Lebanon to prevent Australians from travelling to that area to take up arms, and I would implore the government to look very seriously at making that declaration and doing it yesterday—as soon as possible. As tensions continue to rise, particularly in the north of Israel and southern Lebanon, it is appropriate to make that declaration, and I urge the government to do it now.

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