COUNTER-TERRORISM AND OTHER LEGISLATION AMENDMENT BILL - Second Reading

September 05, 2017

The Legal Affairs and Community Safety Committee has examined the Counter-Terrorism and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2017. The committee tabled their report on the bill on 11 August 2017. The report of the committee makes a single recommendation; that is, that the bill be passed by this House. I take the opportunity to thank the committee for their examination of the bill. I also want to express my gratitude for the work done by the committee secretariat in support of the committee. An erratum to the explanatory notes for the bill was tabled on 20 July 2017. That erratum simply corrects an error in the collection of statistical data associated with calls for service for the Explosive Ordnance Response Team. 

The debate on this bill occurs against the background of recent events in Sydney, where one of the most significant counterterrorism disruption operations ever undertaken in this country resulted in the charging of two men with terrorism offences. Unfortunately, those events are not without precedent. Within the last three years there have been five terrorist attacks in Australia and 13 major counterterrorism disruption operations undertaken in response to planned terrorist attacks. Seventy-four people have been charged as a consequence of 31 counterterrorism operations undertaken by Australian law enforcement and intelligence agencies. This serves as a stark and sobering reminder that the threat of terrorism to our country and community is very real. 

Since this bill was introduced in June internationally there have been a number of terrorist attacks on western societies, including: a vehicle attack on worshippers outside the Finsbury Park Mosque in London, which resulted in one person being killed and another 10 injured; a vehicle carrying weapons and explosives ramming into a police van in Paris; the stabbing of a police officer at Michigan airport in the United States; an attempted attack on Central Station in Brussels with a suitcase bomb; a knife attack in Hamburg, Germany where one person was stabbed and six other persons wounded; a knife attack in Finland which resulted in two persons killed and another eight injured; an attempted attack on police near Buckingham Palace; and two vehicle attacks in Spain resulting in 16 people killed and more than 120 injured. Tragically, this included the death of a seven-year-old boy, Julian Cadman. I know that I speak for all members of this House in expressing our thoughts and prayers to Julian’s family and friends.

Domestic and international experience demonstrates that the threat of terrorism is constantly evolving. Irrespective of whether the threat comes from radicalised individuals or from networks of people engaged in sophisticated and highly planned plots, our legislation must be adapted to reflect the reality that we face. As I indicated in my introductory speech, no government can completely extinguish the threat of terrorism, however, complacency will not curtail the carnage. What we can and must do is ensure that our police have the legislative powers they need to respond to the threat of terrorism and other threats to the community in a manner that ensures the threat is mitigated to the greatest extent possible. 

Notwithstanding that reality, we should never lose sight of the fact that Queensland is an harmonious and multicultural society where there is a fundamental respect for the rights and liberties of all individuals. Those values and our adherence to them is in many ways our greatest defence against terrorism. For that reason, legislation such as this must always strike the right balance between the protection of the community and individual rights. To achieve that balance, the new powers contained in this bill are constrained by appropriate and measured safeguards. 

This bill is the third instalment in the Palaszczuk government’s substantive reforms of counterterrorism and emergency management powers here in Queensland. This bill and those which have preceded it serve to underscore our government’s commitment to ensure that we have the legislative powers required to prevent, disrupt and effectively respond to the real threat of terrorism and other situations that pose a significant threat to the safety of our community. I commend the bill to the House.