John Faulkner (NSW, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I present two reports of the Parliamentary Joint Committee on Intelligence and Security: Review of the listing of Boko Haram, Review of the re-listing of the Islamic State, andReview of administration and expenditure No. 11 and No. 12—Australian Intelligence Agencies.

I seek leave to move a motion to take note of the reports.

Leave granted.

I move:

That the Senate take note of the reports.

On behalf of the PJCIS I do present these two reports to the Senate: Review of administration and expenditure No. 11 and No. 12—Australian Intelligence Agencies, and Review of the listing of Boko Haram, Review of the re-listing of the Islamic State.

The committee is required by the Intelligence Services Act to review the administration and expenditure of the agencies of the Australian intelligence community, and this report covers two financial years: 2011-12 and 2012-13. The committee received comprehensive submissions for both these years and conducted private hearings with each of the agencies, the Inspector General of Intelligence and also Security and also the Australian National Audit Office. The committee was satisfied that agencies are currently overseeing their administration and expenditure effectively.

For a number of years now the committee has monitored the impact of the efficiency dividend and other savings measures on agencies. In this review the committee sought assurances that each agency continued to have the necessary resources to address and target Australia's national security priorities to the appropriate degree to ensure that Australians are protected against threats to national security.

The PJCIS found that the ongoing impact of the efficiency dividend and other savings measures was placing increasing pressure on AIC agencies. Since 2010 agencies have warned of the potential impact on operational capability. This was reiterated even more strongly in this review, with the clear message that any additional cuts would lead to capability reductions. For this reason, the committee has recommended that the government review the continued application of the efficiency dividend and other savings measures to AIC agencies. The committee considers that particular consideration should be given to the cumulative impact of these measures on operational capacity, including optimal staffing levels and the ongoing ability of these agencies to protect Australia's national security.

The committee also reviewed the making of regulations to list Boko Haram and re-list the Islamic State as terrorist organisations under the Criminal Code. This is the first time that Boko Haram has been listed by the Australian government. The group has launched attacks of increasing violence and sophistication since 2009. In the period between 2011 and 2014 29 terrorist attacks were claimed by, or reliably attributed to, Boko Haram. In addition to assassinations of political, military and religious figures, the group has increasingly targeted noncombatants, including attacks on schools, markets, churches, residential areas and bus interchanges, which have killed hundreds of civilians. The group has also turned to kidnapping, including the April 2014 kidnapping of more than 200 girls from a secondary school in Borno state—and I am sure that incident is very well known to all senators. Boko Haram is listed as a terrorist organisation by the United Nations and by other governments, and, I can report to the Senate, is not involved in any meaningful peace negotiations. The PJCIS fully supports the listing of Boko Haram as a terrorist organisation under the Criminal Code.

So let me now move to the relisting of Islamic State. Islamic State is an organisation which has been known under several different names. The first listing of the group for proscription purposes was in 2005 under the Arabic name that it formerly used. It was relisted in 2007 under the same name. In 2008 and 2010 and July 2013, it was relisted under the name 'al-Qaeda in Iraq', or AQI. More recently, the group was also listed under the name 'Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant'—ISIL. On 29 June this year, the group proclaimed an Islamic caliphate in areas it controls, and it changed its name to the Islamic State. The use of the name 'Islamic State' does not represent a change in the leadership, membership or methods of the group that was originally proscribed in 2005, but reflects the explicit name change of the group, the expansion of its operating area and announcement of an Islamic caliphate. Legal advice provided to the Attorney-General confirmed that it would be appropriate to make new regulations under the new name of 'Islamic State' but with the retention of the well-known aliases, including ISIS and ISIL. The use of the label 'Islamic State' for this Criminal Code listing does not in any way legitimate the organisation's claim to have established a caliphate; rather, the relisting of the group as the Islamic State is very important so as the continuity of the terrorist activities of this organisation is reflected, and is also critically important to ensure the clear application of the terrorist listing legislation.

Islamic State has been described to the PJCIS as one of the world's deadliest and most active terrorist organisations. The Islamic State conducts daily attacks on security forces and civilians. In Iraq, the group aims to destroy public confidence and provoke widespread revolt against the government, as well as undermining efforts to contain the group. In Syria, its targets include the regime of Bashar al-Assad, some armed opposition groups and Turkish and Kurdish militants.

The PJCIS fully supports the relisting of this group on the basis that it continues to engage in and to advocate terrorist attacks. The committee also maintains the view expressed in an earlier report that the strong links to Australia are a significant additional factor in the proscription of this group. We have heard that there are about 60 Australians fighting in Syria and Iraq, with about another 100 people in Australia believed to be providing active support. The committee therefore does not recommend disallowance of the regulation listing the Islamic State as a terrorist organisation under the Criminal Code.

Question agreed to.