Bridget McKenzie (Victoria, National Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

by leave—I move:

That the Senate take note of the reports.

One of the interesting things that has occurred post the election is that I am now a member of the Intelligence and Security Committee. It is a fascinating place to be. So, on behalf of the Parliamentary Joint Committee on Intelligence and Security I would like to make some comments on these reports: the review of the relisting of six terrorist organisations under the Criminal Code, the review of the declaration of Islamic State as a terrorist organisation under the Australian Citizenship Act 2007, and, third, an advisory report and addendum on the Criminal Code Amendment (High Risk Terrorist Offenders) Bill 2016.

I am pleased to talk to the report on the Criminal Code Amendment (High Risk Terrorist Offenders) Bill 2016 as the bill provides for the continued detention of high-risk terrorist who, following an application by the Attorney-General, are found by a state or territory supreme court to present an unacceptable risk to the community at the end of their prison sentence. In the course of the inquiry, the committee received 18 submissions and five supplementary submissions and conducted a private and a public hearing with a range of witnesses. The committee carefully considered the evidence it received and, in a strong endorsement of the proposed bill, concluded that the continuing detention order regime will form an important part of Australia's multifaceted response to the terrorist threat.

In this bipartisan report, the committee has recommended that the bill be passed by the parliament and has made 23 additional recommendations aimed at amending the scope of the bill's application, clarifying operation of the regime, and strengthening the reporting and oversight mechanisms. Specifically, the committee considered that the scope of offences should be limited to terrorism related offences and has recommended, most notably, that offences for treason be excluded from the regime. The committee understands that no person has been convicted of a treason offence under Australian law since the Second World War. The committee has also recommended extending the time available to the Attorney-General to make an application for a continuing detention order from six months to 12 months prior to the end of an offender's sentence. This will provide all parties more time to prepare for the respective court proceedings.

The committee has made a series of recommendations intended to provide greater clarity as to the intended operation of the bill. These amendments to either the bill or to the explanatory memorandum would provide greater clarity to the definition of 'relevant expert' in the bill and the process for the court to determine the admissibility of each expert's evidence, make explicit that the offender is to be provided in a timely manner with information to be relied on in an application for a continuing detention order, clarify the interaction with parole and bail provisions, clarify what is proposed by a rehearing as set out in the bill, and clarify the process for the initiating a periodic review of a continuing detention order. The committee has also recommended that a 10-year sunset clause be placed on the legislation, with reviews by the Independent National Security Legislation Monitor and this committee to occur five and years following the passage of the bill, respectively.

The committee was asked by the Attorney-General to look at the interaction between this proposed continuing detention order regime and the existing control order regime. The committee in this respect has recommended that the Criminal Code be amended to make it explicit that a control order can be applied for and obtained while an individual is still in prison but that the controls imposed by that order would not apply until the person is released. Further consideration of the interaction between these two regimes and any proposed improvements will occur during the mandatory reviews of the control order regime by the independent monitor and the PJCIS to be completed in 2017 and 2018 respectively.

The committee report recognises that considerable work will be required following the passage of the bill to implement the regime, with many operational aspects yet to be fully developed. This includes the risk assessment tools that will be used to assess offender's conditions of detention and rehabilitation programs. The government has therefore established an implementation working group to progress these matters. The committee has recommended that the Attorney-General report back to the committee with a clear development and implementation plan prior to the bill's debate and that a timetable for implementation of any outstanding matters being considered by the implementation working group is provided back to the committee by 30 June next year.

Subject to these recommendations, the committee strongly supports the bill's passage through the parliament. I would like to thank all members of the committee for their hard work and commitment in achieving the bipartisan outcome in very tight time frames. There was quite a collaborative approach by all senators and members on the committee. I would also like to thank the secretariat and the chair of the committee, Michael Sukkar, for his leadership in this area. It is very, very handy to have on that committee those senators and members from both sides of the parliament who have been longstanding members of that committee and are highly experienced in the contributions they are able to make. I think that one of the great strengths of this committee is our joint resolve to get the balance right in these very difficult and nuanced times when it comes to security matters. I am confident that the committee has achieved that result. Thank you.

Question agreed to.