Dan Tehan (Wannon, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I rise to update the House on the delegation undertaken by the Joint Committee on Intelligence and Security in association with its current inquiry into the Australian Citizenship Amendment (Allegiance to Australia) Bill 2015. Countering violent extremism and protecting national security are amongst the most critical issues facing Australia at the moment, but they occur in a global context.

To inform the current citizenship inquiry and discussion on broader national security issues, the committee was granted special approval from the presiding officers of both houses to undertake a delegation to the United Kingdom, France and the United States. I and two other members, the member for Berowra and Senator Fawcett, undertook the delegation. The committee's Deputy Chair, the member for Holt, was to accompany us but regrettably was unable to attend. The committee approved Senator Fawcett to attend in his place.

Across the three nations, the committee met with a range of government departments, intelligence agencies and experts. Just to give you a sense of this, in the UK we met with Scotland Yard, the Office for Security and Counter-Terrorism, the Office of Surveillance Commissioners, the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, the Home Office, the Independent Reviewer of Terrorism Legislation, the Interception of Communications Commissioner's Office and the National Security Secretariat. In France we met with the Anti-Terrorist Coordination Unit, the Directorate-General for Internal Security, the oversight committee, the Ministry of Justice and the National Intelligence Coordinator. In France the delegation met for the first time with the French intelligence agencies. We were the first parliamentary delegation ever to be invited into the French intelligence agencies, and they made particular note of that.

In Washington we met with the CIA, the FBI, the National Counterterrorism Center, the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, the Committee on Homeland Security, the State Department and the Department of Homeland Security. Once again, I can inform the House that it was the first time a parliamentary delegation had ever met with both the Senate and House intelligence committees. When we met with the House Intelligence Committee, over 12 members of that committee turned up for the discussion. The final leg was in San Francisco, where we met with Twitter, Google and Facebook, plus three cybersecurity experts at Stanford University.

The delegation had the opportunity to discuss how citizenship revocation for dual nationals engaged in terrorism related activities has been used in other nations. The committee discussed the effectiveness of these measures in combating risk, the practical and operational requirements, and the critical review and oversight mechanisms needed. All those we spoke to in each nation agreed that a range of tools and approaches are needed to combat terrorism on different fronts and that citizenship revocation is a much needed and effective mechanism, in particular, to address the threat of returning fighters.

Combating the radicalisation of individuals, particularly through social media, was an important topic of conversation. Social media means that the radicalisation of youth can happen on our doorstep. Daesh, or ISIS, is sending out almost 100,000 pieces of extremist propaganda a day glorifying terrorist violence. The UK, France and the US are well advanced in working with communities to counter the online propaganda of Daesh, expose their recruitment strategies and assist youth at risk who are targeted through social media. This is an area where there is scope for Australia to increase its response.

Another issue discussed during the delegation was the protection of classified intelligence information in warrants, affidavits and other court proceedings. I think those who want to speak in a minute will be able to do so in quiet, and I would appreciate—

Honourable Members:

Honourable members interjecting—

Tony Smith (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Yes. Those on my right should cease the chatter while the member for Wannon is completing his remarks.

Dan Tehan (Wannon, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The UK has an advanced system of special advocates who represent the interests of clients but also have access to certain classified information which may not be able to be presented in other circumstances. This system, importantly, balances security needs with ensuring fair representation during judicial proceedings. Speaking with UK agencies, the Independent Reviewerof Terrorism Legislation and a special advocateprovided an invaluable insight into the benefits of thisapproach.

Meeting with internatio nally renowned think tanks, the delegation explored the drivers behind the growth of Da esh. Understanding the so cial and economic issues of the region and the humanitarian refugee crisis occurring, provides a better understanding o f the modus operandi of Daesh, the dangers it presents and the efforts required to counter the monstrosities being committed. Being able to engag e internationally with decision makers, policy makers and operational response areas on all these topics was instrumental, and the c ommittee will be immensely assisted in its future examination of national security measures because of those high- level international discussions.

There are protected cables which followed our visit. They will be provided to members of the intelligence and security committee, as will a report by the delegation. I thank the parliament for the opportunity to undertake this delegation and for its support in assisting the committee to bring that international context to its important scrutiny work.