Nick Xenophon (SA, Nick Xenophon Team) Share this | Hansard source

The Attorney-General is saying something there—I am sure it is complimentary!

The PJCIS produced a report and recommended that the bill be passed, subject to the implementation of some 23 recommendations. These recommendations include, but are not limited to, amending the bill to remove treason and the publishing of terrorist advertisements from the scope of offences covered by the legislation, and ensuring that the rules of evidence apply to the matters the court is required to have regard to in its decision as to whether a terrorist offender poses an unacceptable risk of committing a serious terrorism offence if released into the community. It also recommended that, for the avoidance of doubt, the government should amend the Criminal Code to make explicit that a control order can be applied for and obtained while an individual is in prison but that the controls imposed by that order would not apply until the person is released. The final recommendation I refer to is that the government consider whether the existing control order regime could be further improved to most effectively operate alongside the proposed continuing detention order regime.

Significantly, the PJCIS also recommended that the continuing detention order regime be subject to an initial sunset period that expires 10 years after passage of this bill and that reviews of the operation of the regime be undertaken in due course by the Independent National Security Legislation Monitor and the PJCIS. A sunset clause and independent reviews are essential given the fundamental nature of this regime.

The PJCIS has further recommended that the Attorney-General provide the joint committee with a clear development and implementation plan and that such a plan should be provided prior to the second reading debate in the Senate. I would be grateful if the Attorney-General would provide such a plan to all senators as we consider this bill. I also note that the PJCIS has recommended that, following the consideration of all of these recommendations, the government should obtain legal advice from the Solicitor-General on the final form of this bill. I would urge the Attorney-General to do so and to share that advice with the Senate.

As I said on previous occasions, the PJCIS is not infallible, and it is not a substitute for close and careful review by the Senate and its committees of all counterterrorism and national security legislation. In this case, however, I must say the joint committee has done a thorough job in relation to what is an important piece of legislation that raises very important questions of principle. I note that the government has accepted all 24 of the joint committee's recommendations and will be moving amendments to implement recommendations 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 8, 9, 11, 12, 13 and 15 to 20, and to address issues arising from further consideration of the bill since its introduction. I welcome these amendments and can indicate that my colleagues and I will be supporting this legislation.