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

It is an important question. Last night, two people were arrested in Sydney and charged for the offence of acts in preparation of a terrorism offence under section 101.6 of the Criminal Code. Regrettably, this is another episode and another reminder that the terrorist threat to Australia is real. Tactical operations police arrested both people at their residence in Fairfield in Western Sydney. This action is likely to have prevented harm to innocent Australians and potentially saved one or more lives. I can confirm that the information received by the Joint Counter Terrorism Team indicated that a terrorist attack in Western Sydney was imminent.

The AFP deputy commissioner, Mick Phelan, made it clear at his press conference today that the comprehensive reform of our national security legislation is already helping our agencies deal with this problem. The foreign fighters act lowered the arrest threshold in relation to terrorism offences from belief on reasonable grounds to suspicion on reasonable grounds. The lower threshold allows police to respond in a more dynamic and flexible manner, and the need for the new legislation was highlighted by yesterday's arrests. An alleged imminent terrorist attack was reported and the two men were arrested by police under the new lower terrorism arrest threshold. I was advised this morning by the AFP commissioner, Andrew Colvin, that it may be the case that the arrests would not have been able to be made under the higher tests under the previous legislation. Both suspects have been refused bail.