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

The reason it is important that all of us support the work of ASIO and the other national security agencies is that the threat of terrorism to the Australian homeland is more serious today than it has been for many years. Honourable senators may have seen, during the luncheon adjournment, the address by the Director-General of Security David Irvine to the National Press Club. Mr Irvine said:

In the past two years, however, the situation in Syria and now Iraq has radically complicated the threat, adding energy and allure to the extremist Islamic narrative.

For that reason the government is determined to give ASIO and the national security agencies the resources, the governmental structures and the legislation they need to enable them to do their work effectively. What Mr Irvine referred to in particular is the threat to the domestic security posed by the problem of foreign fighters in the Middle Eastern theatre. As honourable senators may know, ASIO has assessed that there are now 60 Australian nationals engaged in war fighting in Syria and northern Iraq. Those 60 are supported by a facilitation network operating within Australia, numbering some 100. That facilitation network includes a number who have come back from engagement in war fighting in the Middle East. There is a very high correlation between people engaging in war fighting under Islamist extremist groups like ISIL and Jabhat al-Nusra and a propensity to engage in terrorist activities on the Australian mainland. ASIO is determined to ensure that that they do not succeed. (Time expired)