Andrew Hastie (Canning, Liberal Party, Shadow Minister for Home Affairs) Share this | Hansard source

The Australian Security Intelligence Organisation Amendment Bill (No. 1) 2025 extends the compulsory questioning warrant framework in the ASIO Act for a further 18 months to 7 March 2027. It's been a pattern over the last 10 years or so—at least whilst I've been on the Parliamentary Joint Committee on Intelligence and Security—to sunset some of the more contentious national security bills. The questioning powers have had sunsetting powers for some time, and that's why this first bill, out of a package of two bills, is before the House today.

Ahead of the sunsetting of ASIO's compulsory questioning powers, the PJCIS commenced a review into division 3 of part III of the ASIO Act in the last parliament, but this inquiry lapsed when the House was dissolved. This legislation serves as a stop-gap extension to ensure ASIO retains these powers while the reform is being progressed through the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation Amendment Bill (No. 2) 2025, which is to be considered by parliament, as well as the Parliamentary Joint Committee on Intelligence and Security, which is the normal avenue for in-depth inquiries. The second ASIO amendment bill contains substantive reforms to the compulsory questioning power regime and will be considered by parliament separately.

By way of background, these powers were introduced in the wake of the attacks of September 11, back in 2001. They came on to the statute books in 2003 to combat the growing threat of terrorism. We saw them updated and modernised to account for the development of homegrown terrorism with Islamic State about a decade ago, and now, with great power competition taking place across the globe, the rise of espionage, foreign interference and sabotage, the second bill—which we're not considering today, but it's worth foreshadowing—will modernise the compulsory questioning powers to include those more pressing threats. We know that the ASIO director-general has talked often over the years about espionage and foreign interference and now sabotage being real and pressing threats to Australian national security, and that's why it's good that we're updating these laws.

Since its introduction, the compulsory questioning framework has been renewed five times before it was due to cease, and this has resulted in the questioning framework being in force continuously since 2003—that's 22 years of bipartisan support for these tools. We wish we didn't have these on the statute books at all, but, in today's world, it's necessary that we protect the Australian people through such a legislative framework because ASIO's compulsory questioning powers remain a valuable intelligence collection tool. It's also a tool of interdiction and disruption in an increasingly complex security landscape. This legislation will ensure there is no disruption to ASIO's access to these powers while further reforms are considered by the parliament.

I want to note that there are people on both sides of the House who have concerns about such powers, and certainly I'm alive to those. I think oversight of these powers is really important. Accountability and transparency is part of our democratic tradition. So whoever on the PJCIS looks at these closely from our side at least will make sure that these concerns are addressed within the public inquiry and also behind closed doors when these discussions are handled within the committee itself.

I want to the put on the record very, very clearly that the coalition will always support sensible reforms which empower Australian men and women serving on the front line in intelligence and law enforcement roles. We'll always back our intelligence officers in ASIS, our intelligence officers in ASIO and the AFP officers in law enforcement, who every day in the shadows work hard to keep us safe. So we'll be supporting this bill without amendment.

Debate adjourned.

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