Michaelia Cash (WA, Liberal Party, Minister for Employment, Skills, Small and Family Business) Share this | Hansard source

I thank Senator Rennick for the question. On this side of the chamber we are committed to keeping Australians safe from the threat of terrorism. We understand that the fundamental priority of your Commonwealth government must be the security of the nation and the security of the people. We have actually passed 17 tranches of legislation since 2014, when the terrorism threat level was raised to 'probable'. The government is proud of the work that it has done in this place, in the last fortnight in particular, to make our nation more secure. In fact, today we passed further legislation.

We are facing some of the greatest threats our nation has ever experienced. One of these threats is returning foreign fighters. Since 2012, around 230 Australians have travelled to Syria or Iraqi to fight with or support groups involved in the conflict. Agencies assess that there are around 80 Australian men and women currently in Syria and Iraq who have fought for or otherwise supported Islamic extremist groups. The advice of our national security agencies is that many of these people are likely to seek to return to Australia in the very near future. The government's temporary exclusion orders legislation ensures that, if an Australian of counterterrorism interest does seek to return to our country, it is with adequate forewarning and in the hands of the authorities. This is critical national security legislation, and I thank senators for their support. I also thank the Senate for their support in passing today the government's ASIO Amendment (Sunsetting of Special Powers Relating to Terrorism Offences) Bill 2019.