Andrew Wallace (Fisher, Liberal National Party) Share this | Hansard source

I congratulate the member for Sturt on a well-researched and well-delivered speech on a very important topic. I rise in support of the Counter-Terrorism Legislation Amendment (AFP Powers and Other Matters) Bill 2022. There is an often-quoted phrase that eternal vigilance is the price of liberty. That phrase is often ascribed to Thomas Jefferson, but the first person that is purported to have said it was an Irishman, John Philpot Curran, who back in 1790 said, 'The condition upon which God hath given liberty to man is eternal vigilance'. That pretty much sums up the importance of this bill.

The big provides for the continuation of counterterrorism powers held by the AFP which are due to sunset on 7 December of this year. This bill seeks to extend those powers until December 2023. These are powers which the previous coalition government implemented in 2021 as part of our extensive work to strengthen Australia's national security. By extending the sunsetting date by 12 months, the government and the opposition can reach a bipartisan position on new legislation to amend part 5.3 of the Criminal Code Act 1995 based on the recommendations of the PJCIS, on which I am very proud to serve as the deputy chair.

The previous member speaking, the member for Sturt, spoke at some length about the importance of the PJCIS. I want to take this opportunity to commend the outstanding work that has been done by the most recent chair of the committee, Senator James Paterson. I've only been on the committee for a short while, but his depth of knowledge in relation to intelligence and security is really quite remarkable. I also want to acknowledge the work of the now shadow minister for defence, the member for Canning, who preceded Senator Paterson as chair of the committee. Both these gentlemen have done outstanding work in the PJCIS.

The PJCIS is perhaps the most important committee in this place. It provides much-needed oversight over our intelligence agencies. We live in a parliamentary democracy which is constantly under threat, but it is very important that, if our security agencies have these very significant powers, we have appropriate checks and balances on our security agencies. The PJCIS, along with the Inspector-General of Intelligence and Security, performs the role of providing checks and balances for our intelligence and security architecture in this country.

We should never fall victim to any form of hubris when it comes to terrorism or national security. This country, sadly, is constantly at threat of terrorist attacks by those who would seek to do us harm, whether they are state based actors or lone-wolf actors. It is very important that our security agencies have the sorts of powers which I'll go through shortly, but it is equally important that we have appropriate checks and balances on those agencies to ensure that they conduct themselves appropriately within the confines of the law and that any potential overreach is dealt with.

Yesterday we acknowledged Police Week and National Police Remembrance Day. We have a great responsibility in this place—and, I believe, in our broader community—to recognise the importance of the work that is done by our policing services both at a state and territory level and, importantly, at a federal level. Australia's national terrorism threat level today remains at 'probable'. There is credible intelligence, assessed by Australia's security agencies, indicating that malicious actors have the intent and capability to conduct a terrorist act in Australia. This bill will provide for the continuation of key counterterrorism powers reserved for the AFP, to keep Australians safe. All powers will continue to be subject to robust safeguards and oversight, as I said earlier, with the PJCIS and the Inspector-General of Intelligence and Security overseeing those agencies.

The bill extends the sunset clause by 12 months in relation to three key powers. They are control orders, preventative detention orders and emergency stop and seizure powers. In relation to the control orders, these provisions allow the Federal Court or the Federal Circuit Court to impose an order which places tailored obligations, prohibitions and restrictions on an individual who continues to present a risk to the community. A preventative detention order allows a person to be detained without charge and can only be used where the AFP reasonably suspects that an attack could occur within 14 days, or, in the aftermath of a terrorist attack, to preserve vital evidence. In relation to the emergency stop, search and seizure powers, these provisions allow police to request a person's name, address and other details; they allow police to conduct a search for a terrorism related item and to seize such an item; and they allow police to enter premises without a warrant, to prevent a serious and imminent threat to a person's life, health or safety.

Some would argue that these provisions, these orders, are draconian in nature, that they take away people's liberty—and that is correct; they do. But this is the serious nature of the threat that this country faces and, in fact, that many Western countries face. These are provisions that we would rather not have, but, in order to keep Australians safe, this parliament and previous parliaments have considered them to be vital, with appropriate checks and balances.

To date, no preventative detention orders have been made, and no incidents have required the use of the emergency stop, search and seizure powers. Although these powers have not been used to date, this actually demonstrates that the AFP are very judicious in their application of these far-reaching and broad powers. I would suggest to this chamber that Australians can and in fact should be very proud of the members of the ADF—I'm sorry, of the AFP. They should also be proud of the ADF, of course. But, confining my remarks to the AFP, for 43 of the last 75 years the AFP have contributed to global peacekeeping efforts and supporting Australia's role in maintaining law and order at home and abroad.

Thanks to the previous coalition government's record investment in the work of the AFP and our nation's law enforcement and security agencies, Australia has led groundbreaking operations and international partnerships to make our country, our region and our world safer. Consider Operation Ironside. This was a sophisticated sting, with the FBI, that targeted the criminal underworld and saw more than 350 local arrests, 6.3 tonnes of drugs seized and six drug labs shut down. Consider Operation Veyda, which took down two global narcotics crime syndicates spanning five countries. Consider Operation Appleby, the largest counterterrorism probe in Australia, which took down a Sydney terrorist cell. And consider the vital work of the Australian Centre to Combat Child Exploitation, which I had the privilege of visiting just a couple of weeks ago. The AFP, through the ACCCE, is leading the world in employing new technology and tactics to protect our children, and that has resulted in over 2,700 charges being laid against predators and consumers of child abuse material.

Just in the last few days, we learnt about the cyberattack on Optus. The Australian Signals Directorate and the AFP are working closely with Optus to try and identify the culprits, under Operation Hurricane. Together with overseas law enforcement agencies, they are investigating this hack, this threat, that has exposed the private information of almost 10 million Australians. So the AFP are at the cutting edge in relation to not just the protection of children but cybersecurity and many other endeavours.

I was listening with great interest when the member for Sturt was talking about his experience in London when the terrorist attacks were happening there. It reminded me of one Christmas time when Leonie and I were staying in a hotel in Melbourne, and all hell broke loose just across the road at Federation Square. I can't remember the year—it would've been about 10 years ago. As it turned out, the AFP and Victoria Police pounced on some would-be terrorists and thwarted a terrorist attack. I think it was on 23 December—that's my anniversary date, so I remember the date—about 10 years ago. It was actually at Federation Square, and the police intervened with seemingly moments to spare. It really brought home to me that what we saw in New York, Washington and London can very well happen here in Australia. Of course, we saw that with the terrorist attack at the Lindt store in Sydney.

So, for anyone who thinks that Australia is immune to or is somehow quarantined from the risk of terrorist attacks that we have seen in other countries around the world, such as the US and the UK, that is a very, very dangerous presumption to hold. All Western democracies are at risk in the face of terrorism. It is true that terrorism has taken a back seat in recent times to seemingly more pressing issues, such as COVID and the threats that we face from a geopolitical perspective. But there are still those within our own communities, both from a religious perspective and a right-wing perspective, that seek to do Australians harm, and this bill will continue for another 12 months the protections that Australians deserve. I commend the bill to the House.

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