John Alexander (Bennelong, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is for the Minister for Justice. Will the minister inform the House what measures federal law enforcement agencies are taking to keep all Australians safe and our public buildings secure?

Michael Keenan (Stirling, Liberal Party, Minister for Justice) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I thank the member for Bennelong for that question. I would like to reiterate the words of the Prime Minister and the foreign minister that the news from Canada last night is very disturbing and a very real reminder to us all of the threats that we face and the threats that our allies face. We need to be mindful in Australia of the heightened security threat environment, but Australians also need to be reassured that the government is committed to ensuring their safety and the security of our public buildings. It is vitally important that this building as well as other significant national buildings remain open to the public. We live in a free society, and I think that every member of this House will join me in our commitment to preserving that.

Madam Speaker, you and the President in conjunction with the government six weeks ago commissioned a security review of this building, and as a result we have deployed more armed AFP officers both inside and outside Parliament House. We have enhanced our tactical response capabilities. We have increased our dedicated protective security and liaison teams based at Parliament House and we have enhanced screening measures for those entering the building. These measures create an additional layer to the normal patrolling and response measures that have been in place for some time. Madam Speaker, you, the President and the government remain confident that we have taken the necessary steps to ensure the safety of this building.

The risk of such an attack on home soil is something this government remains concerned about, but we are taking every possible measure to equip our law enforcement and intelligence community with the resources that they need to deal with this threat. That is why we have invested $630 million, $64 million of which will enhance the ability of federal law enforcement to combat the threat. The major component of this investment is for an AFP led multiagency disruption group. This group is a dedicated unit focused on both traditional and non-traditional ways of disrupting extremists and their support networks. Law enforcement will be going after extremists in whatever way they can. They will prosecute extremists and disrupt them under any offence possible to keep them off our streets. These methods could include the cancellation of their Centrelink payments, proceeds of crime actions, cancellation of passports or even taxation compliance checks. This will be bolstered by the establishment of an AFP diversion team which will work hand in glove to identify persons at risk of criminal behaviour and divert them before they are radicalised and go down the wrong path.

This requires the unprecedented cooperation across government. That is why the national disruption group will have the ability to co-opt any arm of the federal government which may be able to contribute to the disruption of extremists, be it law enforcement, the Taxation Office, immigration or human services. We will deploy every available resource to make sure that we are combating and disrupting foreign fighters and keeping the Australian community safe.