Dean Smith (WA, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Mr President, can I also extend my warmest congratulations on your elevation to high office in this great institution of the Australian Senate. My question is to the Attorney-General, Senator Brandis. Can the Attorney-General update the Senate on what the Turnbull government is doing to counter the threat of foreign interference?

George Brandis (Queensland, Liberal Party, Attorney-General) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Thank you, Senator Smith. As you know, the threat of covert foreign interference is a problem of the highest order and is getting worse. The Director-General of ASIO, which is, of course, the agency primarily responsible for investigating espionage and foreign interference, has advised that foreign intelligence activity against Australia continues to occur on an unprecedented scale. Espionage and covert foreign interference can cause immense harm to our national sovereignty, to the safety of our people, to our economic prosperity and to the very integrity of Australian democracy. And we are increasingly seeing public reports of the insidious effect of covert foreign interference being directed against other liberal democracies as well, whether it be through interference in democratic elections or the stifling of free and open debate within our own community.

This government has already embarked on a significant program of legislative and policy reform to ensure the Australian people and Australia's interests are protected from the threat of espionage and covert foreign interference. In May this year, the Prime Minister asked me to undertake a comprehensive review of Australia's espionage and foreign interference laws. That review has now been completed. Before the end of this year, the government will introduce a comprehensive suite of reforms to address a broad spectrum of foreign interference and covert political influence activity in Australia. Those reforms will include legislation to ban foreign political donations, legislation to enhance and reform the espionage and foreign interference related offences in the Criminal Code, and introducing a foreign influence transparency scheme, modelled, in part, on the United States Foreign Agents Registration Act.

Scott Ryan (President, Special Minister of State) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Senator Smith, a supplementary question.

Dean Smith (WA, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Can the Attorney-General update the Senate on the scope of his review into espionage and foreign interference laws and outline how the government intends to respond to the review?

George Brandis (Queensland, Liberal Party, Attorney-General) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The topics I was asked by the Prime Minister to consider were: the adequacy and effectiveness of the espionage and treason offences under the Criminal Code and the officials secrets offences under the Crimes Act; the merit of creating specific foreign interference offences within the Criminal Code; the sufficiency of relevant international frameworks; and any complementary provisions that may strengthen our agency's ability to investigate and prosecute acts of espionage and foreign interference. In these sittings the government will introduce legislation arising from that review, including legislation which comprehensively revises our espionage, sabotage, treason and secrecy offences and introduces a new category of offences criminalising certain acts of covert foreign interference.

Scott Ryan (President, Special Minister of State) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Senator Smith, a final supplementary question.

Dean Smith (WA, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Can the Attorney-General outline what other steps the government is taking to respond to the challenge of foreign political influence, including through foreign donations?

George Brandis (Queensland, Liberal Party, Attorney-General) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

This government is committed to ensuring that our political system is free from foreign interference and covert influence. We believe that only Australian individuals and organisations should be able to participate in Australian elections, and the government is taking deliberate steps towards banning foreign donations, having developed legislation that we will introduce into the parliament in the spring session. In addition to this the government will introduce in these sittings a transparency scheme modelled in part, as I said a moment ago, on the United States Foreign Agents Registration Act. That regime will require individuals or institutions to make a declaration if they are acting on behalf of a foreign power to influence the political processes of Australia. For the first time the public and decision-makers in government will have visibility of the level and extent to which foreign sources may be seeking to influence Australia's government and political processes.