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

Let me expand a little on some of the information I provided to Senator Wong. The government has taken decisive action from the earliest stages of the Syria-Iraq conflict to ensure that our community is protected from terrorism. Even as the Islamic State declared its so-called caliphate in June 2014, the government was already embarking on the most significant program of counterterrorism legislation reform in a generation to address the unprecedented scope of the terrorism threat here at home.

I mentioned to Senator Wong the eight tranches of targeted national security legislation by which we have empowered our law enforcement, security and defence forces to fight terrorism at home and abroad. The government has been advised by our agencies and by the Commissioner of the Australian Federal Police, Commissioner Colvin, that as a result of that legislation his work and the work of other states in dealing with the terrorism problem has been materially assisted. As well, the government has invested an additional $1.5 billion in law enforcement and security agencies to combat terrorism. In this year's budget we are investing an additional $321 million in specialist capabilities for the AFP, the largest single funding boost to the AFP's domestic policing capabilities in over a decade.

The first duty of any government is to keep its citizens safe; the first duty of any parliament is to keep its citizens safe. As I said a moment ago to Senator Wong, I think the collaboration across party lines to debate, to fine tune, to improve and to pass the national security legislation shows this parliament working at its best.