George Brandis (Queensland, Liberal Party, Attorney-General) Share this | Hansard source

I thank Senator Fawcett for his question. This morning, members of the Australian Federal Police and the New South Wales Police Force arrested two men in Sydney after investigations carried out by the joint counter-terrorism team. The Australian Federal Police indicated this morning that the men will be charged with offences under the Crimes (Foreign Incursions and Recruitment) Act. That act makes it an offence for an Australian citizen to travel to a foreign state or to assist somebody else to engage in such travel with the intention of engaging in hostile activity or to train another person to engage in hostile activity.

As this case will shortly be before the courts, I will not comment on it other than to acquaint the Senate with the fact that it will be alleged that one of the two men arrested, a 39-year-old man, was actively involved in recruiting people to travel to Syria to engage in hostile activities—that is, politically motivated violence—while the other man arrested, a 23-year-old man, was preparing to travel to Sydney to engage in politically motivated violence in the course of the Syrian civil war. Those offences carry a maximum penalty of 10 years imprisonment.

In recent months there has been evidence of a growing number of Australians travelling to Syria to fight in or to assist others to fight in the Syrian civil war. This is a matter of grave concern to the Australian government. Those who consider doing so should be conscious that travelling to Syria to fight in the Syrian civil war puts them at risk of arrest and prosecution under the Crimes (Foreign Incursions and Recruitment) Act. The government condemns politically motivated violence in all of its forms and that includes war fighting in Syria.