Peter Khalil (Wills, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

On behalf of the Parliamentary Joint Committee on Intelligence and Security, I present the following reports: the Advisory report on the Crimes and Other Legislation Amendment (Omnibus No. 1) Bill 2024—Report, July 2024, the Advisory report on theCounter-Terrorism Legislation Amendment (Declared Areas) Bill 2024—Report, July 2024, and the Review of the listing of Ansar Allah as a terrorist organisation under the Criminal Code—Report, incorporating a dissenting report, August 2024.

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

by leave—In relation to the Advisory report on the Crimes and Other Legislation Amendment (Omnibus No. 1) Bill 2024, this bill contains five schedules which are together intended to support the proper administration of government, law enforcement and oversight processes.

Schedules 1 and 2 of the bill would modernise law enforcement powers to expressly account for 'digital assets'—such as cryptocurrency—being used by criminals. This includes by updating the search warrant powers and proceeds of crime legislation to expressly authorise police to seize digital assets.

Schedule 3 increases the value of the Commonwealth penalty unit from $313 to $330 to help ensure that penalties for criminal offences reflect community expectations and deter criminal behaviour.

Schedule 4 creates a new position of Communications Security Coordinator in the Department of Home Affairs to perform certain telecommunications security related functions under the Telecommunications Act 1997.

Schedule 5 includes amendments to the Telecommunications (Interception and Access) Act 1979 (the T(IA) Act) to improve the ability of oversight bodies for state based integrity agencies to access material that has been lawfully intercepted by the agencies within their jurisdiction.

The committee received seven submissions and one supplementary submission to this inquiry, all of which supported passage of the bill.

The committee has made one recommendation to amend the bill. This amendment would broaden the T(IA) Act's existing definition of 'prescribed investigation' in relation to the Parliamentary Inspector of the Corruption and Crime Commission of Western Australia to make it more consistent with other state based oversight bodies. The change was requested by the parliamentary inspector and supported by the Attorney-General's Department.

The committee has also made two recommendations for the government to consider during future reforms of the T(IA) Act, potentially as part of the proposed electronic surveillance reforms.

Firstly, in response to a suggestion by the Law Enforcement Conduct Commission of New South Wales, the committee recommends that the government consider whether state based oversight bodies for integrity agencies should have the power to access the stored communications and telecommunications data held by agencies within their jurisdiction, in addition to the access to lawfully intercepted information that the bill provides.

Secondly, the committee recommends that the T(IA) Act be amended to require that ministerial declarations made under sections 110A, 176A, 187A and 187AA of the T(IA) Act be referred to the committee for review. The current oversight arrangements require that all amendments to the primary legislation under those sections—including minor and cosmetic changes—be referred to the committee. However, there is currently no review required for declarations made by the legislative instrument under those same provisions. The committee's recommendation is consistent with the intent of the previous committee in 2015, during its review of the bill that introduced the mandatory data retention regime, that oversight of any 'emergency' ministerial declarations to expand the regime's scope be subject to appropriate scrutiny.

With these recommendations, the committee recommends that the bill be passed. On behalf of the committee, I want to thank the secretariat and all of those who provided submissions to that particular inquiry. I acknowledge the work of the committee members, including the deputy chair, who's with us in the House at the moment.

I commend the report to the House.

In relation to the inquiry into the Counter-Terrorism Legislation Amendment (Declared Areas) Bill 2024, the committee supports the measures contained in the bill, which would see the operation of the declared areas offence in section 119.2 of the Criminal Code continue for another three years, until 7 September 2027.

The bill would also provide that section 119.3—the provision under which the Minister for Foreign Affairs may declare an area for the purpose of enlivening the offence—ceases to have effect on 7 September 2027.

The committee found no cause for concern in how the provisions have been used since their introduction into Australian law in 2014. Their use only twice to date demonstrates appropriate caution and judiciousness on the part of the government.

The committee's report recommends that the bill be passed with no changes, owing to the need to urgently pass the bill before section 119.2 sunsets on 7 September 2024. However, the committee did make four other recommendations, including that certain matters be considered by the government before the powers are next due to sunset in September 2027.

Firstly, the committee recommended that the government review the list of 'legitimate purpose' exceptions for entering or remaining in a declared area in section 119.2(3) of the Criminal Code and consider whether they are still fit for purpose or should be expanded.

Secondly, the committee also recommended that the government consider introducing a 'grace period' to the offence of entering or remaining in a declared area, which is presently triggered immediately upon declaration of an area. In light of the extreme circumstances that would have likely precipitated the declaration of an area, it cannot be assumed that a person in or near that area would immediately be aware of such a declaration. As such, the committee considered that the government should consider whether a grace period of up to one month could be explicitly provided for rather than relying solely on ministerial or prosecutorial discretion to not charge an individual in such a scenario.

The committee further recommended that, to avoid any potential ambiguity, the government consider including additional legislative safeguards on the Minister for Foreign Affairs's discretion to declare an area, including making more explicit the factors the minister should take into account.

Deputy Speaker Andrews, I know you are familiar with these areas. The declared area provisions, or these laws, I should say, while only to be used in extreme circumstances, are an important element of Australia's counterterrorism framework and provide the Australian government with a valuable tool to counter the international terrorism threat and to prevent and deter Australians from joining international terrorist organisations.

On this point, the committee notes that it has now been a decade since the passage of the Counter-Terrorism Legislation Amendment (Foreign Fighters) Act 2014 and the country is facing a much-changed security landscape. The committee considers that now would be an appropriate time to take stock of the Criminal Code's provisions on foreign incursions and recruitment, including the declared areas regime, and whether they remain fit for purpose in the current security landscape. The committee considers that the Independent National Security Legislation Monitor, INSLM, is best placed to conduct such an inquiry and has recommended that he do so and report his findings to parliament before the declared areas provisions are due to sunset in 2027.

Again, on behalf of the committee with respect to this report, I extend my thanks to those who participated in the inquiry by providing submissions and appearing before the committee at its public hearing. Of course my thanks go again to the secretariat for their work on this inquiry and to my colleagues on the committee, including the deputy chair.

I commend this report to the House.

The last one is the Review of the listing of Ansar Allah as a terrorist organisation under the Criminal Code.

With respect to the review of the listing of Ansar Allah under the Criminal Code, you would be aware, Deputy Speaker Andrews, that an organisation may be specified by regulation as a terrorist organisation provided that the minister for the Australian Federal Police, currently the Attorney-General, is satisfied on reasonable grounds that the organisation directly or indirectly engages in terrorism or advocates the doing of a terrorist act. Listing an organisation triggers the application of offences for supporting or associating with the organisation in specified ways, such as being a member of, recruiting for or providing funding to it.

Section 102.1A of the Criminal Code provides that the committee may review a regulation which lists an organisation as a terrorist organisation and report its comments and recommendations to each house of the parliament. The regulation subject to this review lists Ansar Allah as a terrorist organisation under the Criminal Code.

In determining whether the regulations for the listing of Ansar Allah should be supported, the committee reviewed the Attorney-General's explanatory statement and statement of reasons supporting the listing of the organisation and other publicly available information.

The committee also invited public submissions on the listing. Four submissions were received from interested individuals and organisations.

On behalf of the committee, I extend my thanks to those who provided submissions to the inquiry.

The committee noted the following information with respect to Ansar Allah.

I should note that Ansar Allah is often known as the Houthis, which is a name referring to their leader and the original founder of the movement. They're known by a number of other aliases of course as well, and many other names have been included in the listing. They are a Zaydi Shia violent extremist organisation that are based in Yemen.

Following the United States invasion of Iraq in 2003, the organisation became increasingly radicalised. Ansar Allah has conducted 19 terrorist attacks since 2022, utilising an array of weaponry. Its violent activity is primarily directed at Yemeni government forces, but the organisation has also targeted civilians, foreign states and foreign owned vessels, especially those going through Bab el-Mandeb in the Red Sea.

Ansar Allah has significantly contributed to conflict in Yemen. It has also demonstrated links to Hizballah and Hamas, which are both currently listed as terrorist organisations under the Criminal Code. Ansar Allah's recent targeting of vessels passing through the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, which connects the Red Sea and the Indian Ocean, has impacted on global supply chains and contributed to rising inflation and costs of living around the world as some of the economic impacts of their terrorist attacks and activities.

After examining all of the evidence provided to it, the committee considered it is evident that Ansar Allah is directly engaged in preparing, planning, assisting with or fostering the doing of terrorist acts. The committee is satisfied that the appropriate process has been followed, supports the listing of Ansar Allah as a terrorist organisation under division 102 of the Criminal Code and finds no reason to disallow the legislative instrument. I commend this report to the House and once again thank my colleagues for their work on all three reports.

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