Matt O'Sullivan (WA, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

I rise today to speak on the Counter-Terrorism Legislation Amendment (High Risk Terrorist Offenders) Bill 2021. It's great to follow some excellent contributions from my fellow senators. I enjoyed listening to Senator Chandler and to Senator Scarr before her. And I was in the chamber earlier, at the beginning of this bill, and heard Senator Keneally with her opening for the opposition. It's terrific to see the bipartisan way in which this bill is being addressed and I thank the Labor Party for their continued support for such important issues and matters, particularly as they come before the Senate.

I'm proud to be part of a government that's so committed to a strong stance on national security. I have seen that ever since I was elected. Since the beginning of my term I have seen the significant commitment that this government has to protecting Australians against the atrocities of terrorism, ensuring that that's dealt with and stamped out, and certainly addressed. But we must always remain vigilant; this isn't just a set-and-forget situation. We know that these threats are continually evolving, and legislation has to keep up with that. The way we address and police threats and the way we thwart potential attacks obviously have to continue to evolve. This legislation goes some of the way towards addressing some of those evolving and changing circumstances.

This government has committed over $270 billion to defence spending over the next 10 years. That figure is up 40 per cent since 2016. We are a government that is absolutely committed to the security of our nation and to protecting Australians, whether it be here on our own soil or across the world, thwarting the development and rise of terrorist actors that would seek to disrupt our way of life, impede our freedoms and, sadly, cause misery and attack upon Australian citizens—indeed, upon anyone in this country. The Morrison government is committed to ensuring the safety and security of all Australians. Australia has a robust national security and counterterrorism framework that ensures our agencies have the powers that they require to prevent terrorist attacks and manage those who would seek to commit them.

Since the terror threat level was raised to 'probable' in 2014 the government has passed 19 tranches of national security legislation. This legislation ensures agencies have the powers that they need to be able to prevent terrorist attacks. These laws are kept under constant review to ensure that our legal frameworks are appropriate and adapt to the evolving threat environment. Protecting the community from terrorist attacks is ultimately one of the Australian government's highest responsibilities. It's certainly one of our highest priorities. If the Australian people know one thing about the Morrison government, it is that it has not shied away from the key task of keeping them safe. The latest piece in our national and regional security puzzle, the AUKUS agreement, is an important example of this.

This bill will give our domestic law enforcement agencies an important tool in their toolbox to keep Australians safe. It will enable the creation of what is known as an extended supervision order, or ESO, that high-risk terrorist offenders can be placed under and that will operate under division 105A of the Criminal Code. Under this new scheme, respective state and territory supreme courts will be able to make an extended supervision order in relation to a convicted high-risk terrorist offender if they believe that, on the balance of probabilities, the offender poses an unacceptable risk of committing a serious terrorism offence if released into the community at the end of their sentence. This scheme will ensure the ongoing safety of the community from these criminals in situations where a court is not convinced that ongoing detention is necessary but where a risk is still present.

As we've seen in recent years, convicted terrorist offenders can continue to pose a significant risk to the community, even after they've served the sentence of their initial crime. This played out, sadly, in the tragic consequences of the 2019 London Bridge attack and also, more recently, in the recent terror attack in New Zealand. We must ensure that Australians are safe from convicted terrorists. With several convicted terrorist offenders due to complete their custodial sentences in the next five years, the need for effective risk management measures to keep our community safe is greater than ever. These people can never be allowed to perpetrate such an attack on Australian soil. If anything could or should unite all of us in this place, it should be that. As I said earlier, I'm very pleased to hear that the Labor Party is supporting this bill, and I'm pleased about their approach on the Parliamentary Joint Committee on Intelligence and Security. It is very important, and I thank them for the fact that they have approached this in a bipartisan way.

The implementation of an extended supervision order can be extended for up to three years by a relevant court and can involve any condition on any offender whom the court considers proportionally risky—that is, any condition can be applied to any convicted terrorist that a court feels is necessary to keep Australians safe. These conditions can include prohibitions, restrictions or obligations, and we need—our law enforcement agencies need—to be able to have the legal operations to make decisions to keep Australians safe. This is what this bill is enabling; this is exactly what this bill is doing.

The Parliamentary Joint Committee on Intelligence and Security has considered the bill and made 11 recommendations. The government is accepting 10 of those recommendations in full, in part or in principle. The Greens' refusal to support this bill is disappointing. It's predictable, but it is nonetheless disappointing—and shameful, in fact. They point out that many counterterrorism laws have never been used. That's a good thing, isn't it? Thank God we actually haven't had to use them, because that would mean there has been an atrocity that's occurred on our shores.

I'll return to the AUKUS agreement. Just hours ago, Minister Dutton signed an official agreement with the United Kingdom and the United States to access their nuclear submarine technology. This is a very big step for our country. We are taking it in lock step, and we're going in lock step with two of our closest allies, helping to ensure the safety and the security of our nation as well as those of our region and our regional allies. I just want to commend Minister Dutton, the Prime Minister, Minister Payne and all those involved in the negotiation of this very important and, indeed, historic agreement. There really hasn't been agreement like this for many, many years. It's emblematic of Australia's commitment to upholding our role in the Asia-Pacific, while recognising the importance of our traditional allies. It's also emblematic of this government's commitment to national security. I must admit that Labor's commitment to AUKUS in that regard is commendable, and, as I've said already, their bipartisanship on this bill is also much appreciated.

But it's not only on submarine technology that we are increasing our cooperation with the US and the UK. In 2019 it was announced that the United States and Australia had entered into formal negotiations for a bilateral agreement under the United States's Clarifying Lawful Overseas Use of Data Act, the CLOUD Act, as the first step towards significantly boosting law enforcement cooperation between two allies, with strong protections for the rule of law, privacy and, importantly, civil liberties.

Contained within this bill, the Counter-Terrorism Legislation Amendment (High Risk Terrorist Offenders) Bill 2021, is a schedule amending the framework that facilitates Australia's entering into cross-border access to data agreements. This will make it easier for data sharing between the United States and Australian law enforcement and border security personnel. This data can also be used to monitor ESOs and would cover all supervisory orders related to terrorism and terrorism related activities made under part 5.3 of the Criminal Code.

This bill is an important addition to the government's response to the terrorism threat. The amendments to the Criminal Code have been approved by a majority of states and territories, we've heard, and as required by the Inter-Governmental Agreement on Counter-Terrorism Laws.

To enable the parliament to give full consideration of this bill, it was referred to the Parliamentary Joint Committee on Intelligence and Security, who have reported back. As I said before, nearly all of the recommendations of the committee's report were implemented, and it really is time for this legislation to be dealt with here and to be passed. So I certainly do commend the bill to the Senate, but, in closing, can I just thank that committee for their dedication? Senator Keneally, in her opening remarks, made reference to the way that that committee works so well together and, in particular, pointed out that a lot of the heavy lifting of this was done by the previous chair, now the assistant defence minister, Mr Hastie, in his role, so I thank him and the current chair, Senator Paterson, for their commitment. The work they do on that committee is so important. They carry quite a significant administrative load. The work they do really is to be commended. They are dedicated. In particular I single out Minister Hastie, the former chair of this important committee—the Parliamentary Joint Committee on Intelligence and Security. I know he absolutely committed himself to this committee. He's a former SAS officer. He was very committed. He knows security. His dedication to this committee—and, indeed, the dedication of all members of that committee—is very much appreciated. I thank them very much indeed. I commend this bill to the Senate.