Michaelia Cash (WA, Liberal Party, Deputy Leader of the Government in the Senate) Share this | Hansard source

I thank Senator Molan for his question and, of course, acknowledge his great service to Australia in ensuring that Australians are kept safe. As we know, the coalition government's first priority is the security of the nation and its people—keeping Australians safe from those who seek to do us harm.

ASIO and our law enforcement agencies are alive to the threats that our nation faces, and they work tirelessly to both detect and deter those threats on a daily basis. The national security environment in Australia is a dynamic one, and it's an ever-evolving one. That is why the government continually reviews the legislation and the capabilities that our agencies need to detect, intercept and respond to the emerging security needs.

We've seen online radicalisation continue to evolve and become a greater security threat to Australia and to our way of life. The director-general addressed this in his speech last night. We know that, as a result of COVID-19, this threat has continued to increase. However, we also know that, as Australians, this is not the only threat that we are currently facing.

We know that the pervasive threat of foreign interference is rapidly growing in both scale and proportion. As the director-general stated last night, foreign interference has become a 'principal security concern' for Australia. This is not to 'downplay the significance' of the threat of terrorism, but foreign interference is 'demanding more attention and resources'. That is why the Morrison-Joyce government always ensures that our national security legislation is strengthened and up to date. We've passed 27 tranches of national security legislation since 2014.