Mark Dreyfus (Isaacs, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Attorney General) Share this | Hansard source

Labor of course joins with the government in expressing our sympathies to the victims of the recent terror attack in London. The Counter-Terrorism Legislation Amendment (2019 Measures No. 1) Bill 2019 would make a number of amendments to the Crimes Act 1914 and the Commonwealth Criminal Code. The bill is consistent with the principles that were agreed by the Council of Australian Governments on 5 October 2017. In particular, it is consistent with the principle of the presumption against bail, and parole should apply to categories of persons who have demonstrated support for, or links to, terrorist activity. The bill would also address a gap in the continuing detention order regime.

The bill was referred to the Parliamentary Joint Committee on Intelligence and Security for inquiry and report. Labor and Liberal members of the committee made one recommendation to improve the bill. The government accepted that recommendation and amended the bill accordingly. There was one area of disagreement between Labor and Liberal members of the intelligence committee. The nature of that disagreement is detailed in an additional comment to the report by the intelligence and security committee. I encourage those who are interested in this bill and interested in Australia's obligations under the Convention on the Rights of the Child to read that document. I commend the bill to the House.

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