Stuart Robert (Fadden, Liberal Party, Assistant Treasurer) Share this | Hansard source

I thank the colleagues who have spoken on this important bill, the Intelligence Services Amendment Bill 2018. The work of the Australian Secret Intelligence Service is undertaken outside of public view. Nevertheless, I can say to the House today that much of ASIS's operational work overseas is necessarily conducted in hazardous environments, including in warlike zones and other high-risk environments. There has been considerable change in the operating environments where ASIS officers are deployed, and the risks and threats have greatly increased since the original passage of the Intelligence Services Act in 2001.

The original form of the act limited the ability of ASIS officers to act even in their own self-defence. But, by 2004, drawing on practical experience after the 9/11 attacks, the act was amended to allow ASIS officers, where authorised by the Minister for Foreign Affairs, to use weapons for self-defence in narrowly defined circumstances. Since the time of these amendments, successive governments have asked ASIS to do more in response to national security priorities and unfolding events and to do so in new places and new circumstances unforeseen in 2001 or 2004. Fifteen years later, it is time to amend the act to allow ASIS to more safely operate in a far more complex and dangerous world.

This bill seeks to amend the Intelligence Services Act to enable ASIS to better protect its officers and other persons when operating in hazardous environments overseas through the defined use of force and to better protect Australia's national security interests, especially in counterterrorism operations overseas. There'll be additional oversight mechanisms that come with these new and additional powers to use force under clearly defined conditions. The Minister for Foreign Affairs will need to be satisfied that arrangements are in place to ensure any actions taken by ASIS officers are necessary and reasonable, having regard to the purpose for which the direction is given. While lethal force may already be used in self-defence as a last resort to protect an officer or another protected person from serious harm or death, it's explicitly provided that, in undertaking such an activity, ASIS staff members or agents will not and must not engage in torture, cruel, inhumane or degrading treatment, sexual assault or unlawful killings.

The amendments before the House underline the continuing importance of the role of the Minister for Foreign Affairs in authorising the use of weapons by ASIS. If this bill is passed, the conduct of a specified activity by ASIS or its agents will require the Minister for Foreign Affairs to consult with the Prime Minister and certain other ministers before authorising such an activity. If this bill becomes law, the independent Inspector-General of Intelligence and Security will oversee compliance with the bill to ensure that ASIS's conduct is consistent with the law and with the Australian public's expectation of propriety. A great deal of consultation has gone into the bill to make it the most transparent and effective bill possible. These amendments are not proposed lightly, nor are they excessive or an overreach. They're balanced, proportionate and necessary.

To conclude, each day the women and men of ASIS go about their work to protect and advance the Australian national interest. They're often called upon to do so covertly, at considerable personal risk and hazard, and in environments of significant danger. As the world becomes more complex, it is clear that the legislation that governs ASIS operations also needs to evolve to ensure that staff members and the agents who assist them have the appropriate capacity for self-defence, as authorised by the Minister for Foreign Affairs. I commend the bill to the House.

Question agreed to.

Bill read a second time.

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