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

On behalf of the Parliamentary Joint Committee on Intelligence and Security, I present the advisory report on the Australian Citizenship Amendment (Citizenship Cessation) Bill 2019.

Kristina Keneally (NSW, Australian Labor Party, Deputy Leader of the Opposition in the Senate) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

by leave—I rise to speak on the tabling of this report of the Parliamentary Joint Committee on Intelligence and Security on the Australian Citizenship Amendment (Citizenship Cessation) Bill. I say from the outset that Labor welcomes steps to fix the significant problems in Australia's citizenship loss provisions to strengthen our national security and to protect the Australian community from terrorism. Labor supports appropriate measures to keep Australia and Australians safe such as citizenship loss for terrorist conduct.

Amendments to these provisions have been a long time coming, and we are glad that the government, which controls the legislative agenda and, ultimately, Australia's national security, has finally acted. The citizenship loss provisions were first introduced in 2015 under the then Abbott government and were passed with Labor's support in late 2015 under the Turnbull government. Labor supported the legislation in 2015 because citizenship loss following terrorist conduct may be necessary and proportionate in some cases, as the respected Independent National Security Legislation Monitor recommended. However, Labor has always had concerns about the complexity and potential impact of this legislation, which is why Labor PJCIS members issued a minority report in 2015. This report criticised the government's legislation and the processes and recommended that the provisions introduced in the 2015 act be referred immediately to the INSLM for review.

The concerns Labor held five years ago have been proven to be well founded. Under the current laws, there may be cases where an individual's Australian citizenship has ceased under the law but the Commonwealth government may not be aware this has occurred. The Department of Home Affairs confirmed this in the PJCIS hearings last year. It might sound ironic that laws that are meant to protect Australians could result in citizenship revocations the government themselves don't even know about, but that is the way the current system operates. ASIO themselves have made clear that because of the automatic way in which the existing provisions operate citizenship cancellation may lead to unintended or unforeseen adverse security outcomes, including exacerbating potential security threats. As the INSLM found in its 2019 inquiry, these provisions operate in an uncertain and uncontrolled manner and need to be repealed as a matter of urgency.

In its report, the PJCIS has recommended the automatic citizenship loss provisions be replaced with a new ministerial decision-making model of citizenship cessation. Labor both welcomes and supports this recommendation, a recommendation we've long called for along with the INSLM. And we look forward to the government bringing this legislation to the parliament, particularly this chamber, so that it can be passed before we leave tomorrow.

I seek leave to continue my remarks later.

Leave granted; debate adjourned.