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

On behalf of the Parliamentary Joint Committee on Intelligence and Security, I am pleased to present the committee's report of its review of the relisting of five terrorist organisations under the Criminal Code, together with the committee's annual report for 2014-15.

Reports made parliamentary papers in accordance with standing order 39(e).

by leave—The committee reviewed the evidence presented to support the relisting of al-Shabaab, Hamas's Izz al-Din al-Qassam Brigades, Lashkar-e-Tayyiba and Palestinian Islamic Jihad as terrorist organisations and was satisfied that each group continues to engage in terrorist acts. Accordingly, the committee has recommended that the regulations to relist these groups as terrorist organisations not be disallowed.

In considering the relisting of the Kurdistan Workers Party, or PKK, the committee sought additional information from government agencies and conducted a public hearing with representative community groups to assist its review.

The committee acknowledges the Kurdish people's desire for autonomy and the right to maintain a Kurdish ethnic identity in Turkey. The committee also notes the very effective military force provided by Kurdish populations in the fight against Daesh in neighbouring countries.

The committee carefully considered the evidence presented by representative organisations of the Kurdish communities in Australia. The committee recognised the legitimate concerns of these organisations, but concluded that these concerns were not directly relevant to the assessment of whether the PKK is a terrorist organisation as defined in Australian law.

The committee also considered evidence presented about the PKK's activities. While acknowledging that the PKK has not claimed responsibility for all the attacks attributed to it, the committee noted that it had nonetheless claimed responsibility for a number of attacks. Accordingly, the committee concluded that it could be satisfied that the PKK continues to engage in terrorist acts. The committee has therefore recommended that the regulation to relist the PKK as a terrorist organisation not be disallowed.

It is important to recognise that Australians do not face penalties for supporting Kurdish civil society movement or political parties in Turkey, or for supporting a peaceful resolution to the conflict and the promotion of Kurdish rights in Turkey.

Rather, the listing of the PKK only provides for criminal penalties for those who are members of the PKK, or conduct certain legislatively defined activities in support of the PKK.

Expressing support for Kurdish autonomy is not a criminal offence as a result of the listing of the PKK. Nor is the listing of the PKK the result of the PKK's support for greater Kurdish autonomy—rather it is the organisation's activities, which are of a distinctly terrorist nature, that give rise to its listing under Australian law.

The committee has expressed its support for peace talks between all parties and considers that the Australian government should work, in cooperation with international partners, to encourage all parties to engage with the peace process in good faith.

Turning to the annual report, the Intelligence Services Act requires the committee to provide the parliament with an annual report of its activities and I am very pleased to present the committee's report for 2014-2015.

The reporting period saw significant activity by the committee amid a national focus on counter-terrorism measures. In this period, in addition to its existing oversight responsibilities, the committee conducted four major bill inquiries into reforms to Australia's national security legislation. These reforms included changes to data retention laws, a broader update of Australia's national security legislation and responses to the increasing threat posed by returning foreign fighters and individuals within Australia who support terrorism.

In all, the committee made 109 recommendations in the four bill inquiries, all of which were accepted by the government. The committee sought in these inquiries to strengthen the safeguards and oversight, and ensure that any extended powers are subject to appropriate accountability and review mechanisms. The majority of the committee's recommendations resulted in legislative change.

This period also saw an expansion of the functions, oversight and scrutiny responsibilities of the committee. These expanded responsibilities include the committee reviewing the special powers relating to terrorism offences, such as control orders and preventative detention orders, and reviewing the declared areas regime and data retention scheme in the period between 2018 and 2020. In addition, the committee's oversight role has been extended to include some of the Australian Federal Police's functions under the Criminal Code.

The committee will also have an ongoing review role as the data retention scheme is implemented and I note that the implementation phase will commence tomorrow, 13 October 2015.

I would like to take the opportunity to thank all those involved in the committee's work over the reporting period and for their contribution to these inquiries, and could I make special mention of our intelligence agencies and the Australian Federal Police.

I also thank my fellow committee members, both past and present, for their constructive and bipartisan approach to the committee.

Finally, I would like to thank the hardworking secretariat, who have been called on to go beyond the call of duty to ensure that the reports that we have delivered have been done on time, and, I think, with serious detail and commitment to the task that was given to us.

I commend the reports to the House.