Julian Leeser (Berowra, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Minister for Home Affairs. Will the minister update the House on the steps that the government is taking to strengthen Australia's national security measures? How might different approaches put Australians at risk?

Peter Dutton (Dickson, Liberal Party, Minister for Home Affairs) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I thank the honourable member for Berowra and I thank all of those members across the parliament who support our agencies who work day and night to keep Australians safe. It is the fact that we, like any Western democracy, have faced a significant threat, and we still do today—we will do for all of our lifetime—in terms of those people who would seek to do us harm.

We have seen some terribly tragic events in the United States, across South-East Asia and across Europe and we are not immune in this country. I want to make the point today that we have Australian citizens—people who have been born in our country and people who have been naturalised—who have gone off to fight in Syria and in Iraq and would seek to come back to cause serious damage, carnage and death in our country. So we've provided support to our national agencies, not only through financial support but through the ways in which, in this parliament, we've been able to pass 17 tranches of significant pieces of legislation to support those agencies.

This government went to the election, as we go to every election, saying to the Australian people, 'We will do everything within our power to keep Australians safe.' We made that promise at the last election. We will live it during the course of this term of government and for many years beyond. We do it because we have had seven attacks in our country, and we've had 16 major disruptions in relation to imminent attacks that had been planned in our country, since September 2014. We know that 73 people have been convicted of terrorism related offences since 2001 and we know that 98 people have been charged as a result of counter-terrorism operations since 2014.

That is why the government is now asking for the support of this parliament to introduce legislation, which has been used in the United Kingdom, to temporarily exclude those people who we believe would come to our country to cause death and carnage in Australia. The parliament deserves to support this legislation, because the Australian people deserve that support. That's the reality.

Mr Dreyfus interjecting—

Tony Smith (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The member for Isaacs.

Peter Dutton (Dickson, Liberal Party, Minister for Home Affairs) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

That's the reality. And those opposite who are opposed to this legislation should be exposed—

Mr Husic interjecting—

Tony Smith (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The member for Chifley!

Peter Dutton (Dickson, Liberal Party, Minister for Home Affairs) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

including the member for Isaacs, who when he was Attorney-General refused to introduce any legislation to support our national security agencies.

Mr Dreyfus interjecting—

Tony Smith (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The member for Isaacs.

Peter Dutton (Dickson, Liberal Party, Minister for Home Affairs) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

That's the reality. This government will support our agencies because of the threat that exists this very day. We will work with the crossbenchers and we will work with whoever is in this parliament to support this legislation into fruition, because we are absolutely determined to deal with this threat. I want to say to all Australians: we are not immune from what we've seen overseas, and this government will continue to support ASIO, the Federal Police and our state policing agencies—all of those who are involved in keeping Australians safe.

Mark Dreyfus (Isaacs, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Attorney General) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Why not govern in the national interest for a change?

Peter Dutton (Dickson, Liberal Party, Minister for Home Affairs) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

You don't. That's the problem.

Tony Smith (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The minister and the member for Isaacs will cease interjecting. We're going to the next question. Otherwise I will facilitate a conversation for them in another location.