Andrew Hastie (Canning, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

On behalf of the Parliamentary Joint Committee on Intelligence and Security, I present advisory reports on the Counter-Terrorism Legislation Amendment Bill (No. 1) 2018 and the National Security Legislation Amendment (Espionage and Foreign Interference) Bill 2017.

Reports made parliamentary papers in accordance with standing order 39(e).

by leave—I am pleased to present the committee's report for its review of the National Security Legislation Amendment (Espionage and Foreign Interference) Bill 2017.

The Prime Minister introduced the bill into the House on 7 December 2017 and referred it to the committee for inquiry and report.

The bill repeals existing criminal offences and introduces a range of new offences into the Criminal Code in relation to espionage, foreign interference, theft of trade secrets, sabotage of public infrastructure, and secrecy of Commonwealth information.

The bill also amends a range of existing offences, including those in relation to treason, treachery, and other threats to security.

The significant and unprecedented new measures in the bill required careful consideration, and the committee was pleased to undertake the inquiry.

During its inquiry, the committee received compelling evidence that Australia is facing an unprecedented threat from espionage and foreign interference, and that current laws are not adequate to deal with this threat.

The Director-General of Security, in strongly supporting the bill, advised the committee that, 'the current criminal offences are inadequate to deal with the foreign intelligence threat that we now face' and described existing offences as 'outdated and deficient' and 'inadequate or unworkable'.

As a result, ASIO assessed that the 'net effect is that our nation's freedom of decision-making and core interests are not adequately protected by the rule of law'.

Unchecked, espionage has the potential to significantly reduce Australia's long-term security, and foreign interference could undermine our democracy and threaten the rights and freedoms of our people.

Economic espionage also has the potential to substantially diminish Australia's economic wellbeing and international competitiveness. At stake is our sovereignty, security and prosperity.

The committee has therefore accepted that there is a pressing need to strengthen and modernise current espionage and foreign interference laws.

In conducting its review, the committee received 51 written submissions and 20 supplementary submissions from a range of organisations and individuals.

The committee held five public and two private hearings, and received two classified briefings.

Many participants in the inquiry supported strengthened measures to deal with the threat posed by increased espionage and foreign interference activities in Australia.

Submitters also called for caution to ensure that innocuous or beneficial conduct is not caught up in the proposed new offences, and that sections of the Australian community are not adversely affected.

The committee considers that laws need to be effective at achieving their stated aims, at the same time as minimising any limitations on the personal liberty of Australians and a flourishing civil society.

Taking into account evidence received from participants in the inquiry, the committee has made a range of recommendations aimed at ensuring the bill is:

The committee has made 60 recommendations in total—the most important being that the bill be passed through both the House and the Senate.

On 5 March 2018, the Attorney-General provided the committee with a number of proposed government amendments, primarily to narrow the scope of the secrecy offences in the bill.

These proposed amendments have been taken into account—and supported—by the committee.

Following implementation of the recommendations in the report, the committee has recommended that the bill be passed. I'd like to personally thank the opposition members of the PJCIS, particularly the deputy chair, the member for Holt, and also the member for Isaacs, who worked in the national interest to deliver a bipartisan report. When we have such strong collaboration, it makes the passage of these bills all the more sweeter, so I acknowledge the work that they did on the committee.

The Counter-Terrorism Legislation Amendment (No. 1) 2018 was introduced on 24 May this year.

In reviewing the bill, the committee considered the proposed amendments to be consistent with recommendations made by the committee earlier this year following its review of police stop, search and seizure powers, the control order regime, the preventative detention order regime and the declared area provisions.

The committee welcomed the acceptance of its recommendations that the counterterrorism powers be extended by a further three years, with reviews by this committee prior to the new sunset date.

These future reviews will be an opportunity to examine the impact of amendments to the control order regime and declared area provisions.

They will also provide an opportunity to assess the efficacy of the regimes and, accordingly, the continued need for these powers in the context of the security environment at that time.

The committee noted that, while the bill implements one recommendation from the committee's report into ASIO's questioning and detention powers, the remainder of that report—including the committee's recommendation for repeal of the questioning and detention warrant power—is still being considered by the government.

The committee supports the amendments as proposed and recommends that the bill be passed.

I commend both reports to the House.

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