Lucy Wicks (Robertson, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Prime Minister. Will the Prime Minister update the House on further action the government is taking to keep Australians safe and secure.

Tony Abbott (Warringah, Liberal Party, Prime Minister) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I thank the member for Robertson for her question. As all members of this parliament know, the Daesh death cult has been reaching out to this country to do its worst to brainwash impressionable young people here in Australia. Already, we have had two Islamist terrorist incidents here in this country. The first was the attack on two policemen in Victoria and then there was the Martin Place siege just before Christmas.

Most regrettably, about 100 Australians are currently fighting with the death cult in the Middle East. About 150 Australians here at home are supporting them with recruitment and financing. More than 100 have had their passports cancelled to stop them from travelling to the Middle East to join the death cult.

In response to this threat, the government has been strengthening our security agencies. One of the most significant measures has been the establishment of counter-terrorism units at our eight international airports. I can report to the House that in their first six months of operation some 86,000 assessments have been done and some 230 people have been offloaded from planes that were bound for the Middle East. I have a very simple message for people who might be tempted to travel to the Middle East to join terrorist organisations: don't do it; it is dangerous to you, it is dangerous to others, and we will stop you for our good and for yours.

We have also been strengthening our laws. It was the stronger laws that this parliament put in place that had a big impact in preventing an imminent terrorist attack in Sydney last month. The latest legislative measure, the Telecommunications (Interception and Access) Amendment (Data Retention) Bill 2015, should be passed by the parliament today. This is a very important piece of legislation because 90 per cent of counter-terrorist investigations, 90 per cent of child abuse investigations and 80 per cent of organised crime investigations rely on the use of metadata information that the system collects about communications. This data must be kept and our agencies must have access to it. The bill acknowledges the right to privacy. It acknowledges the principle of freedom of the press, which is fundamental to our democracy. It is essential legislation. This bill will give our crime fighters the information they need to keep us all safe.