David Coleman (Banks, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Minister for Justice and the Minister Assisting the Prime Minister for Counter-Terrorism. Will the minister update the House on today's arrest of a man in relation to a counterterrorism operation? What is the government doing to protect Australians from the threat of terrorism?

Michael Keenan (Stirling, Liberal Party, Minister for Justice) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I thank the member for Banks for that question. Today, the New South Wales Joint Counter Terrorism Team has arrested a 22-year-old man at Sydney Airport for the alleged crime of attempting to travel to Syria to fight alongside the Islamic State. Once again, we are required to thank our law enforcement and intelligence community for the work that they do to keep Australians safe. This is another example of the close work done between the Commonwealth and the states—in this case, the New South Wales Joint Counter Terrorism Team, made up of the Australian Federal Police, ASIO and the New South Wales Police Force.

The man, a 22-year-old from Sydney's south, is expected to be charged with preparations for a foreign incursion. This man had been under the watch of our law enforcement agencies for the past five months, and he was known, as is often the case, to our law enforcement agencies for other criminal matters. At this stage, it is believed that he has acted alone, self-radicalising online, but been in contact with terrorists overseas. The police have advised me that there is no current or impending threat to the Australian community.

Because of this government's tougher terrorism laws, the penalty for this offence—preparing to travel illegally to a conflict zone—is now life imprisonment. This is part of the eight tranches of legislation that the government has passed to enhance our national security over the past two years. These law reforms give our agencies unprecedented power to prevent terrorist attacks.

The arrest today is a reminder that we have a small group of radicalised people in Australia who continue to threaten our national security. Since 2012, around 200 Australians have travelled to the conflict zone in the Middle East. As many as 76 of these people have been killed. Through the reforms that we have made, the Australian Defence Force now has greater power to eliminate terrorists in the Middle East whether they are involved in a combative role or not. As part of a broad coalition, we are destroying ISIL in the Middle East. They are losing territory, they are losing money and their soldiers are either being killed or deserting. Domestically, we have invested $1.5 billion in the ability of our law enforcement and intelligence community to combat terrorism, most recently an extra $321 million to the Australian Federal Police in the budget that has just been brought down.

But we need to continue to evolve law enforcement response in relation to the threat of terrorism. Just last week in Hobart, the Prime Minister secured agreement from the states and territories to have a presumption against bail or parole for people who have supported or have links to terrorism. This government will remain at the forefront of efforts to battle the evolving menace of terrorism, including travelling to Indonesia next month to deal with our regional counterparts on coordinating our counterterrorism efforts in the region. We will continue to do whatever is required, in conjunction with our agencies, to keep the Australian people safe. (Time expired)