Richard Marles (Corio, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Minister for Defence) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Prime Minister. Last night, the Director-General of ASIO said the extreme right-wing threat in Australia is real and it's growing. Also last night, the UK government proscribed additional right-wing extremist groups. Why has the Australian government not listed a single right-wing extremist group as a terrorist organisation?

Scott Morrison (Cook, Liberal Party, Prime Minister) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

It is this government that restored the funding to our intelligence agencies, our border protection authorities, which those opposite, when they were in government, stripped out, which left Australians vulnerable on their watch. In 2013, this government came to office to keep Australians safe. No government has invested more and applied itself more to give those who are working on counterterrorism in this country the resources they need to go after those who would seek to do Australians harm. That includes right-wing extremists; that includes Islamic terrorist extremists. Whatever their cause of hate, whatever their motivation to do Australians harm, this government is standing up to them with the resources and the commitments and the legislation and the powers and the tools that those opposite never had the stomach to put in place. It would seem that every time we've sought to get stronger national security legislation achieved in this place, those opposite have sought to water it down.