COUNTER-TERRORISM AND OTHER LEGISLATION AMENDMENT BILL - Introduction

June 13, 2017

I present a bill for an act to amend the Police Powers and Responsibilities Act 2000, the Public Safety Preservation Act 1986 and the Terrorism (Preventative Detention) Act 2005 for particular purposes, and to repeal the Queensland Police Welfare Club Act 1970. I table the bill and the explanatory notes. I nominate the Legal Affairs and Community Safety Committee to consider the bill.

Tabled paper: Counter-Terrorism and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2017 [911].

Tabled paper: Counter-Terrorism and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2017, explanatory notes [912].

It is a great pleasure to rise to introduce the Counter-Terrorism and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2017. In August it will be a decade since the Queensland parliament passed the Terrorism Legislation Amendment Act 2007, which inserted the terrorist emergency powers into the Public Safety Preservation Act. Thankfully, we have never had to rely on those powers and nothing would make me happier than in another decade to be able to say the same thing about the terrorist emergency and extraordinary emergency powers contained in this bill. Regrettably, though, we have all been horrified by the recent acts of terrorism that have murdered and maimed innocent people here and abroad. Tragically, two Australian women were killed in London last week, including young Queenslander Sara Zelenak. On our shores in Melbourne a man was killed, a woman was taken hostage and three police officers were shot in another act of terror recently. It has been a shocking reminder that even here in Queensland we are not immune from these craven and senseless acts. Recent attacks in England, France, Sweden and Belgium clearly establish that the threat of terrorism is real, the risk to life is significant and the nature of the threat continues to evolve.

As members of the House are well aware, Australia is facing the most significant ongoing threat from terrorism in our nation’s history. Since September 2014, there has been a significant escalation of terrorist related activity within Australia, with four terrorist attacks having been committed with three resulting in fatalities. Twelve imminent planned attacks have been disrupted including one in Queensland. As a result of 27 separate counterterrorism operations, 62 persons have been charged. Sadly, this increased threat of terrorism is expected to endure for the foreseeable future. The safety of our community is paramount for this government. While no government can eliminate the risk of terrorism, the Palaszczuk government remains steadfast in our commitment to ensuring as far as is humanly possible that people are safe from persons who are intent on causing them harm. 

As the threats to community safety continue to evolve, so too must the capabilities of our police and the legislative tools supporting their capability. This bill is the third tranche of the Palaszczuk government’s significant reform of counterterrorism and critical incident emergency management powers. This reform ensures police are able to rapidly and effectively respond to threats of terrorism now and into the future to mitigate or minimise the impacts upon our society. The powers proposed by this bill are balanced by robust safeguards which ensure an equilibrium is achieved between protecting the Queensland community from harm and an individual’s rights and liberties.

The bill enhances the terrorist emergency powers contained in part 2A of the Public Safety Preservation Act to enable police to effectively manage and resolve terrorist acts. Proposed amendments clarify that the existing search powers include the power to search devices such as mobile phones or tablet computers. This includes information accessible by the device although not stored on the device—for example, messages sent by using applications such as Facebook. The ability to search devices assists police in identifying possible offenders—for example, through examining any communications that have taken place leading up to, or during, the terrorist emergency. It also enables police to obtain images captured by witnesses which may be of immense intelligence, tactical or evidentiary value—for example, photographs identifying potential offenders, equipment they possess or have access to, the number and description of persons being held hostage or the physical layout of the premises. The proposed amendments will also enable police to copy information found that is either evidence of an offence or is relevant to the terrorist emergency to prevent the information from being remotely manipulated or deleted. Additionally, the device will be able to be immediately used by police to send a copy of relevant information found for the purposes of managing or resolving the terrorist emergency.