George Brandis (Queensland, Liberal Party, Attorney-General) Share this | Hansard source

Thank you, Senator Reynolds, for that question. Can I acknowledge your interest in this area of policy as a former brigadier in the Australian Army who has served her country. As Senator Reynolds would know, intelligence is at the forefront of Australia's national security capability and our intelligence agencies serve us well.

Senator Reynolds might be interested to know that four planned terrorist attacks on Australian soil have been disrupted since the enactment of Australia's counter-terrorism laws in 2002. Twenty-three people have been convicted of terrorism offences under those laws, including eight individuals who returned from war fighting in Afghanistan. Most prosecutions have made significant use of intelligence information. It is, however, imperative that the statutory framework governing our agencies keep pace with contemporary evolving events and developments in modern technology.

As the parliament is aware, the activities in Syria and Northern Iraq have led to an increase in the number of individuals travelling to participate in those conflicts. Among them are, regrettably, a number of Australians, including some who have fought or trained with terrorist organisations. The threat posed by returning foreign jihadists is the most significant risk to Australia's domestic security that we have faced for decades. To equip our agencies with powers that enable them to function effectively in this environment, the bill I introduced into the Senate yesterday contains measures—in most cases identified by the Parliamentary Joint Committee on Intelligence and Security in its bipartisan report tabled last year—which will address practical limitations in the current legislation.