Claire Clutterham (Sturt, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

The premise of today's MPI is incorrect and can be addressed in a simple sentence: there is no plan in the terms suggested. The government has been repeatedly clear on this—repeatedly. There is no plan to bring home the cohort of people currently residing in the al-Roj camp in Syria, and whose recent attempt to leave Syria was blocked by Syrian authorities. There is no plan. The Albanese government's position on this issue has been consistent and longstanding and could not be clearer: no plan. The Prime Minister, the Minister for Foreign Affairs and the Minister for Home Affairs have repeatedly said: 'We are not providing assistance. We are not repatriating individuals from Syria.' The Albanese Labor government's priority is keeping Australians safe. It doesn't politicise something as critical as national security and the safety and security of Australian citizens. Instead, the priority of this government is to facilitate the safety of Australian citizens. It is to follow the advice of our security agencies and it is, at all times, to conduct ourselves in accordance with the laws in force in this country.

In the ASIO annual threat assessment 2025, the Director-General of Security outlined ASIO's outlook to 2030, which assessed that, over the next five years, Australia's security environment will become more dynamic, more diverse and more degraded. We are facing multifaceted, merging, intersecting, concurrent, cascading threats. The ASIO annual threat assessment 2025 also outlined that now, more than ever, information is needed to allow ASIO to anticipate, to look forward and to identify trends, individuals and patterns of behaviour.

Credible risk assessments and advice to government and other stakeholders can only be developed in respect of credible information from relevant sources. The role that ASIO plays in keeping Australia and Australians safe from national security threats cannot be underestimated, and there is a need for its powers to be adequate to support this function while, at the same time, responding to a changing security environment.

That is why, under this government, ASIO is as well funded as it has ever been, with increased powers of surveillance and questioning, courtesy of legislation introduced into parliament by this government. Australia's security environment is becoming more complex. We've seen recent instances of foreign interference on our shores, which, along with security threats from espionage and politically motivated violence, remain our principal security concerns. So it's important that ASIO's powers continue to evolve to enable them to respond in an increasingly volatile threat environment. Thanks to our legislation, ASIO is empowered to collect the information and intelligence it needs to anticipate Australia's need in this environment. Doing this is illustrative of the government's view that these expanded and new compulsory questioning powers now form an essential part of ASIO's information and collection powers.

As an Australian citizen living and working in this great country I want ASIO to be able to anticipate, to be able to properly advise government and other stakeholders and to be able to prepare accurate and thorough risk assessments so that dynamic and critical risks can be managed. I want to know that ASIO knows what's going on, what the threats to this country and its people might be and how best to counter them. And I want to know that, when this advice is received and provided to government, the government will act.

That is why, when advice was received regarding a temporary exclusion order in connection with one of those citizens seeking to return to Australia, the advice was acted on and implemented. I trust that advice. The government trusts that advice because it has properly equipped our intelligence organisations with the tools that they need to provide that accurate, timely and strategic advice. Under the law, Australian citizens cannot be prevented from returning to Australia unless a temporary exclusion order is in place. These are serious powers that can only be used where the legal threshold is met, and now one citizen has been subject to a temporary exclusion order. We received the advice and we acted on it. If our national security agencies provide advice that additional people in the cohort meet that threshold, we will act.

We want to talk about a plan. It's to continue to equip our intelligence agencies with the power they need to provide full and frank advice and to act on that advice for the betterment of Australians.

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