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

Well, Senator O'Sullivan, I have told you about the regional measures, which have taken the level of regional cooperation to an unprecedentedly high level. But, of course, there are domestic arrangements as well.

Since August of 2014 the government has invested an additional $1.3 billion to support Australia's efforts in combating terrorism, including $450 million in the 2015-16 budget to strengthen intelligence capabilities and to counter extremist messaging. That includes $296 million to strengthen the capabilities of the Australian Secret Intelligence Service, including by updating its IT systems; $22 million to counter terrorist lies and propaganda online; and $131 million to assist telecommunications providers to upgrade their systems to enable them to retain metadata for two years. This government has done and will continue on every front to do what it needs to do to keep Australians safe. (Time expired)