Alan Ferguson (SA, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

by leave—I move:

That the Senate take note of the report.

I present the sixth report of the Parliamentary Joint Committee on Intelligence and Security under section 102.1A of the Criminal Code Act 1995. In this report, the committee has reviewed a new listing for the Kurdistan Workers Party, or the PKK. This is the 19th organisation to be banned under the Criminal Code.

As in previous reports, the committee reviewed both the procedures and merits of the listing. The committee advertised this review in the Australian on 21 December 2005 and on its website from that date. The committee took evidence at a private hearing on Monday, 6 February 2006 from ASIO, the Attorney-General’s Department, the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade and the Federation of Community Legal Services of Victoria. In addition, the committee considered 16 submissions from the public and from legal and community groups.

The committee noted in its report that the process of consultation with the states—a matter that has been criticised in previous reports—had improved, but that the time frame for such consultation is still relatively short. The consultation between ASIO and the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade has, however, become far more substantial. On the matter of community consultation, at the committee’s private hearing the Attorney-General’s Department clarified that all they intended to do in this area was to provide a community information program on a proposed listing, not a consultation on the merits of a listing. The committee concurs with that intention. The committee continues to believe that an information program is important and should be instituted in any future listing.

Some additional issues were raised during the review. They included questions raised about the timing of the announcement of this particular listing. Some members of the committee expressed reservations about the merits of the listing, and the majority of members have requested that the government keep the matter under active consideration. In particular, the committee noted that, unlike many of the other listings brought before this committee, there are potentially large numbers of Australians who, while not endorsing or supporting its engagement in terrorist acts, might have sympathy for the broad aims of the PKK insofar as it promotes self-determination for Kurds in Turkey. It was because of uncertainties in this area that the committee has also asked the government to consider a proscription of the military wing alone and to take into account the fluid state of moves towards possible ceasefires. Nevertheless, with these provisions, the committee has supported the listing.

The committee would like to thank all those who provided submissions on the review and hopes there will continue to be a constructive debate on the listings process. Furthermore, I would particularly like to commend the work of the committee secretariat: committee secretary Margaret Swieringa; research officer Cathryn Ollif; and executive assistant Donna Quintus-Bosz. Sometimes the committee has had to work under very stringent conditions and time frames, and they have done excellent work in servicing the committee and providing this report on time.

It is also worth noting, with respect to the reviews of proposed listings, that many of the submissions we receive on each separate listing come from the same organisations each time. Therefore, much of it consists of exactly the same information being given to the committee on a repetitive basis, regardless of which organisation is under consideration for listing. However, the committee has taken all of these representations into consideration and has come up with its report. I commend the report to the Senate.