Jim Molan (NSW, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

I'm caught remarkably short today, because a lot of what I had to say to the Senate was based on the assumption that the Greens would reject the Independent National Security Legislation Monitor Amendment Bill 2021. Instead, I thank Senator Thorpe for her support of the bill, although it leaves me with not much to say! When she spoke, Senator Thorpe pointed out to us the need for this legislation because of the 70 counterterrorism laws that this country has enacted in the last 20 years. I don't see it as a failure that those laws have not been used; I see it as an absolute triumph. Laws act both as a deterrent and as a punishment, and I think that's very, very important to realise. Senator Abetz went through a good deal of the detail of the bill. As a man who's been on the PJCIS for a very long time, he understands the value of this extraordinary committee, and later today the chair of that committee, Senator Paterson, will take us through the real detail of the bill.

In the last 24 hours we've certainly had national security as a theme. It's been on the agenda as a theme, and it's a very important theme both internally in Australia and as an external activity facing external threats. In the last 24 hours we've had the high-risk terrorist offenders bill in which we balanced continuous detention orders with extended supervision orders. This is a manifestation of the flexibility that we need in order to react to any situation. Of course, once a court becomes involved, extended supervision orders can be applied to someone who's been jailed for terrorist offences and is coming out of that detention if there is a reasonable belief that the individual still holds very extreme views. The extended supervision order can be put on for three years.

Even before the Counter-Terrorism Legislation Amendment (High Risk Terrorist Offenders) Bill 2021, we looked at the Security Legislation Amendment (Critical Infrastructure) Bill 2021. Really, that's legislation to defend ourselves against what is becoming a very common activity around the world—that is, an attack by unknown people on many occasions. But sometimes, as was pointed out to us by Senator Paterson yesterday, we know exactly who is doing this to us, why they're doing it and how they're doing it. What frightens me even more is that, where we don't know they have been, they have left the ability to turn things on and off at a time that suits them, and they will cause those activities to be turned on in a time of high crisis.

The number of bills that we have brought into the parliament indicates that we are dragging Australia into the 21st century, and the dragging that this government has done has been fabulous over the last year. Since 2013, even since 9/11, we have led the world. We have been very effective. We've led the world in an awful lot of counterterrorist legislation, online safety legislation and anticyber legislation, which grants to those who have to protect us day and night the tools that they need in order to protect us.

We recognise the new situation. We look back and we see 9/11, we see the attacks in London and we see the attacks in New Zealand; we understand the internal threat in countries. We understand the threats which are coming from an external source but are manifest in ransomware, in turning off east coast gas pipelines—which is a possibility—or water pipelines or attacking food companies. We understand all these things. We've got to move on and start recognising the new situation that we face in a much larger sense. So we're very, very good internally and we've now got to start recognising what's going on in relation to our strategic environment.

For 75 years we have been an extraordinary country. Through the situations that we've faced, we have enjoyed, based on our alliances—and also based on our own work and on a good deal of luck—extraordinary security and great prosperity. Now things are different. Now we have a rising power in our region. In fact, we've got a number of powers in our region: China, Russia, Iran and North Korea, all of which are rising and three of which—pick any you like—are well and truly in the Indo-Pacific, in our area. The US is certainly a mighty power and will remain a mighty power, but the US has world responsibilities and it is well and truly time that we looked after ourselves.

Internally, I think we are doing exactly that. The legislation that gives us power to look after ourselves internally is extraordinary, and we are having great achievements. Externally we have started far, far too late, but that doesn't matter. No government since the end of the Vietnam War has done what this coalition government has done since 2013 in relation to external defence. No-one has done as well as they've done. So, external threats are certainly one thing. We can always do better and I certainly advocate 24 hours a day that we should do better.

Today we continue our record of looking at legislation which is very important to us. My experience of the PJCIS gave me great faith in the processes within that tremendous committee. I wish very sincerely that we had the equivalent of the PJCIS instead of the defence subcommittee, as a bipartisan report recommended a couple of years ago, that could do in the area of strategy and national security exactly what the PJCIS does in the area of intelligence and lower-level security. And the mechanisms that surround intelligence and security in the PJCIS—that surround this process and ensure we balance the greater general good with individual rights—are what we're here today to talk about. As Senator Abetz said, 'The essence is trust,' and, as the old saying goes: trust and verify.

The background to this bill is that it amends the Independent National Security Legislation Monitor Act 2010, known as the INSLM Act, to allow the Independent National Security Legislation Monitor to report on own-monitor inquiries in standalone reports, clarify the reporting arrangements for the monitor following statutory reviews or referrals, and the Parliamentary Joint Committee on Intelligence and Security, and provide a framework for the engagement of staff, including contractors, to assist the monitor.

The government is committed to ensuring Australia has a robust national security and counterterrorist framework to face internal and external threats. The Independent National Security Legislation Monitor is responsible for regularly assessing Australia's national security and counterterrorism laws to ensure that they remain appropriate to the country threat environment and that the objective of protecting national security is balanced against upholding the rights and freedoms of individuals.

This bill will clarify reporting arrangements for the monitor and provide a framework for the engagement of staff to assist the monitor. The bill implements recommendations made by the former monitor and by the 2019 Comprehensive review of the legal framework of the national intelligence community, which the government accepted. Passage of the bill will ensure that the monitor's enabling legislation reflects the current operation of the position and assists the monitor in the performance of this role. I recommend this bill to the Senate.