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

by leave—I move government amendments (17), (18) and (21) together:

(17) Schedule 1, page 64 (after line 16), after item 62, insert:

62A Subsection 100.1(1) of the Criminal Code

  Insert:

  engage in a hostile activity has the meaning given by subsection 117.1(1).

(18) Schedule 1, item 71, page 66 (lines 24 and 25), omit "(within the meaning of subsection 117.1(1))".

(21) Schedule 1, item 73, page 67 (lines 11 and 12), omit "(within the meaning of subsection 117.1(1))".

These amendments are technical amendments. Amendment (17) inserts a definition for the term 'engage in a hostile activity' into section 100.1 for the purposes of part 5.3 of the Criminal Code. Amendment (21) is a consequential amendment to amendment (17). The effect of the amendments would be to provide that for the purposes of part 5.3 of the Criminal Code 'engage in a hostile activity' has the same meaning as it has where it is defined in the new section 117.1(1) of the Criminal Code. The amendments amend the need to cross-reference that subsection each time the expression is used.

Question agreed to.

by leave—I move government amendments (19), (20) and (22) to (24) together:

(19) Schedule 1, item 71, page 66 (line 26), omit "or a foreign country".

(20) Schedule 1, item 71, page 66 (after line 29), at the end of paragraph 104.2(2)(b), add:

     ; or (iv) been convicted in a foreign country of an offence that is constituted by conduct that, if engaged in in Australia, would constitute a terrorism offence (within the meaning of subsection 3(1) of the Crimes Act 1914).

(22) Schedule 1, item 73, page 67 (lines 13 and 14), omit "or a foreign country".

(23) Schedule 1, item 73, page 67 (line 17), omit "and", substitute "or".

(24) Schedule 1, item 73, page 67 (after line 17), after subparagraph 104.4(1)(c)(iv), insert:

     (v) that the person has been convicted in a foreign country of an offence that is constituted by conduct that, if engaged in in Australia, would constitute a terrorism offence (within the meaning of subsection 3(1) of the Crimes Act 1914); and

These amendments implement recommendation 9 of the Parliamentary Joint Committee on Intelligence and Security by separating the grounds for requesting, making, confirming and varying a control order on the basis of a conviction for a terrorism related offence in Australia, on one hand, and a foreign offence. These amendments also limit the ground in relation to foreign convictions to circumstances where the conduct that resulted in the conviction would be a terrorism offence if it occurred in Australia. The practical effect of the amendments is to require a correlation between a foreign conviction and conduct that would be considered a terrorism offence in Australia. As such, these amendment seek to provide confidence that the control order regime will apply only in relation to the recognised Australian standards of criminal law.

Question agreed to.

I move government amendment (25):

(25) Schedule 1, page 69 (after line 20), after item 81, insert:

81A Subsection 104.23(1) of the Criminal Code

  Repeal the subsection, substitute:

(1) The Commissioner of the Australian Federal Police may cause an application to be made to an issuing court to vary, under section 104.24, a confirmed control order, by adding one or more obligations, prohibitions or restrictions mentioned in subsection 104.5(3) to the order, if the Commissioner:

  (a) suspects on reasonable grounds that the varied order in the terms to be sought would substantially assist in preventing a terrorist act; or

  (b) suspects on reasonable grounds that the person has:

     (i) provided training to, received training from or participated in training with a listed terrorist organisation; or

     (ii) engaged in a hostile activity in a foreign country; or

     (iii) been convicted in Australia of an offence relating to terrorism, a terrorist organisation (within the meaning of subsection 102.1(1)) or a terrorist act (within the meaning of section 100.1); or

     (iv) been convicted in a foreign country of an offence that is constituted by conduct that, if engaged in in Australia, would constitute a terrorism offence (within the meaning of subsection 3(1) of the Crimes Act 1914).

This amendment further implements recommendation 9 of the Parliamentary Joint Committee on Intelligence and Security by separating the grounds for requesting a variation of a control order on the basis of a conviction for a terrorism-related offence in Australia on the one hand and a foreign offence. It is, in a sense, an analogue of the previous amendments.

Question agreed to.

by leave—I move government amendments (28), (29) and (30) together:

(28) Schedule 1, item 94, page 72 (lines 10 and 11), omit the item, substitute:

94 Paragraph 105.8(6)(a) of the Criminal Code

  Repeal the paragraph, substitute:

  (a) any of the following:

     (i) the true name of the person in relation to whom the order is made;

     (ii) if, after reasonable inquiries have been made, the person's true name is not known but an alias is known for the person—the alias of the person in relation to whom the order is made;

     (iii) if, after reasonable inquiries have been made, the person's true name is not known and no alias is known for the person—a description sufficient to identify the person in relation to whom the order is made; and

(29) Schedule 1, page 72 (after line 20), after item 95, insert:

95A Subsection 105.8(8) of the Criminal Code

  After "must", insert ", as soon as reasonably practicable after the order is made".

(30) Schedule 1, item 96, page 72 (lines 21 and 22), omit the item, substitute:

96 Paragraph 105.12(6)(a) of the Criminal Code

  Repeal the paragraph, substitute:

  (a) any of the following:

     (i) the true name of the person in relation to whom the order is made;

     (ii) if, after reasonable inquiries have been made, the person's true name is not known but an alias is known for the person—the alias of the person in relation to whom the order is made;

     (iii) if, after reasonable inquiries have been made, the person's true name is not known and no alias is known for the person—a description sufficient to identify the person in relation to whom the order is made; and

96A Subsection 105.12(8) of the Criminal Code

  After "must", insert ", as soon as reasonably practicable after the order is made".

These amendments implement recommendation 11 of the Parliamentary Joint Committee on Intelligence and Security by providing that an initial preventative detention order can only be made in relation to an alias or by using a description of the person where the person's true name is not known and the description is sufficient to identify the person. The effect of the amendment is to ensure that a preventative detention order can only be made using an alias or description of a person where the issuing authority is confident that the alias or description satisfactorily identifies the person.

Question agreed to.

Debate interrupted.