Raff Ciccone (Victoria, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

I'd like to present the advisory report to the Parliamentary Joint Committee on Intelligence and Security on the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation Amendment Bill (No. 1) 2025. I move:

That the Senate take note of the report.

I also want to add some comments. The report being tabled here in the Senate is one that proposes just a single change to the ASIO Act: an extension of the operation of the ASIO compulsory questioning warrant framework for a further 18 months from September this year to March 2027. While Bill No. 1 proposes only a time extension, the concurrently introduced ASIO Amendment Bill (No. 2) 2025 seeks to make the compulsory questioning framework a permanent part of ASIO's intelligence-gathering powers and other more comprehensive reforms. That will be the focus of committee's work in the coming months.

The PJCIS has already adopted an inquiry into Bill No. 2. The extension of the sunsetting proposed in Bill No. 1 would allow the committee to complete an in-depth review of ASIO's compulsory questioning powers that it commenced in the previous parliament, drawing on evidence to that review and inviting new evidence to the Bill No. 2 inquiry. The committee looks forward to completing a full inquiry into the existing powers and proposed amendments in bill No. 2 and reporting to the parliament in due course. Bill No. 1 already has passed the House with bipartisan support and is now before the Senate. The committee recommends that this bill be passed, and I commend the report to the Senate.

Question agreed to.