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

I just told you about the COAG process. The point of your primary question was that people below the age of 16 do not belong to at-risk categories, and that is demonstrably not the case. You confused yourself as well in your primary question, if I may say so, by conflating preventative detention orders with control orders. There is no proposal to extend the period for control orders to 28 days—in fact, control orders are issued for up to 12 months, but in the case of minors, in the case of people below the age 18, they will be issued for three months. That is a renewable period. Conscious of the fact that people below the age of 18 are minors, there are additional safeguards that will be built into the legislation, including an independent advocate to ensure the interests of the child concerned are protected.