Nick McKim (Tasmania, Australian Greens) Share this | Hansard source

The Greens will be supporting this amendment from Senator Keneally. This amendment would repeal section 34ZZ of the bill, which seeks to extend by a further year the sunsetting of part III division 3, special powers relating to terrorism offences, which define and enact questioning and detention warrants. Replacing the bill's sunsetting extension of one more year would be a sunsetting date of 7 September 2019 for subdivision C of division 3 and a sunsetting date of 7 December for the rest of the division. What, in effect, this amendment would do is sunset questioning and detention warrants on 7 September this year and questioning warrants on 7 December.

It's worth pointing out again that a Parliamentary Joint Committee on Intelligence and Security report, which found the compulsory detention powers were not necessary to prevent or disrupt a terrorist attack, recommended these powers be repealed after 18 months. These replacement powers should, as recommended by the Independent National Security Legislation Monitor in 2016, follow the model of coercive questioning available under the Australian Crime Commission Act 2002 as closely as possible. That 18-month time frame was to expire on 7 December 2019, as is currently legislated. This amendment would essentially provide the government an extra three months to draft and enact alternative compulsory questioning powers in recognition that the government has clearly made little to no progress on this recommendation. Questioning and detention warrants would sunset first, as these are powers that, according to numerous government inquiries and expert advice, would not and should not be replaced.

The Australian Greens have always believed and argued that part III division 3 of the ASIO Act is wholly unjust and unnecessary legislation, which was in fact one of the very early steps this parliament took on what has now been a long, ongoing and regrettable march towards a surveillance and police state in this country. We would prefer to see all of these powers sunset as currently legislated on 7 September this year. However, we will be supporting this amendment, which will sunset the worst of these powers on 7 September, with the rest to sunset by the end of this year, because they make a bad piece of legislation marginally better.