David Bushby (Tasmania, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Attorney-General, Senator Brandis. Can the Attorney-General advise the Senate why it is important to support the work of ASIO and other national security agencies in their efforts to keep Australia safe from the threat of terrorism?

George Brandis (Queensland, Liberal Party, Attorney-General) Share this | Link to 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)

David Bushby (Tasmania, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Mr President, I ask a supplementary question. Will the Attorney-General advise the Senate how recent decisions by the government will enhance the capacity of ASIO to do its work?

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

Yes I can, Senator Bushby. Yesterday, in answer to a question from Senator Fawcett, I told the Senate about the additional resources the government has decided to make available to the national security agencies. The government's legislative response is a threefold response. First of all in the last sitting fortnight of the previous parliamentary sittings, I introduced the National Security Legislation Amendment Bill to strengthen the ability of the Australian intelligence community to counter threat, such as terrorism. That bill is the subject of report by the Joint Parliamentary Committee on Intelligence and Security due next week. In the event of a favourable report, as we anticipate, we will proceed with that legislation. I will be shortly introducing the legislation which I announced with the Prime Minister on 5 August to deal with the threat of foreign fighters and, later in the sittings, I will be introducing legislation to give effect to a mandatory data retention regime.

David Bushby (Tasmania, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Mr President, I ask a further supplementary question. Will the Attorney-General inform the Senate whether existing safeguards and oversight mechanisms are sufficient to ensure that ASIO carries out its functions appropriately?

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

Australians can have a very high level of confidence in the oversight mechanisms that govern the national security agencies. Those oversight mechanisms of course begin with parliament itself through its committees. I have already mentioned the Parliamentary Joint Committee on Intelligence and Security, which operates in a bipartisan fashion. There is also the relevant committee of this Senate that oversees the intelligence agencies. There is a statutory officer, the Inspector-General of Intelligence and Security, whose remit is to oversee the operation of the intelligence agencies. There is a strict mechanism of accountability to the executive government and in particular to the Attorney-General. As honourable Senators may be aware, the government recently announced, when the Prime Minister and I made a statement on the 5 August, that we had decided to retain the Independent National Security Legislation Monitor to ensure that further legislative reforms were proportionate.