Angie Bell (Moncrieff, Liberal National Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Minister for Home Affairs. Will the minister update the House on how the Morrison government is keeping Australians safe by meeting the challenges posed by the scourge of terrorism, including domestic terrorism?

Peter Dutton (Dickson, Liberal Party, Minister for Home Affairs) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I thank the honourable member for her question and for her very keen interest in making sure that the Gold Coast remains a safe community for people to visit and to live in.

This government is absolutely determined to make sure that we can keep Australians safe. We work every day with our agencies to make sure that we can deal with the threat of terrorism. As the Prime Minister mentioned earlier, all of us in this place condemn the terrible tragedies that took place in France and Austria. We extend our deepest sympathies to those families and the victims of those heinous attacks.

As we know, the threat is extant not only in Europe and right across the Western world but of course also in our own country. The threat level is currently at PROBABLE in our country, and it's always worth reminding ourselves that this is an ever-existing threat. Terrorists haven't gone away because of COVID, and the threat remains in our country as much as it does elsewhere around the world. We know that since September 2014, when the National Terrorism Threat Level was raised, there have been seven attacks and 18 major disruption operations in response to imminent attacks that were being planned on Australians. One hundred and sixteen people have been charged as a result of counterterrorism operations, and right now 22 people are before the courts for terrorism-related offences.

Yesterday, a 56-year-old male faced court following an investigation into a stockpile of illegal firearms and explosives by the Queensland Joint Counter Terrorism Team. I want to pay tribute to all of those officers who were involved in that operation. We supported those officers, and police officers and intelligence officers right across the country, by the fact that we have introduced and passed 20 tranches of legislation since 2014. This government has made it an absolute priority to protect Australians and to deal with that threat, and that work continues.

I want to congratulate ASIO for the work they have undertaken, for the way in which they have engaged with the business community and the way in which they have provided advice in a very sober way to Australians, to allow people to understand the threat. The work of ASIO officers and the work of the Australian Federal Police officers has been bolstered significantly by this most recent budget and by more than $2.3 billion since August 2014. We have managed the budget well. We've made tough decisions over recent years to make sure that our budget is in a very strong position, not just to deal with COVID but to make sure that our agencies can be properly resourced so that those police officers and intelligence officers on the front line can continue to do their work. They work 24/7 and spend a long time away from their families to keep us and our families safe, and we really honour and thank them for the work that they continue to do.