23rd Jul 2019, 6:09 PM – Representatives Counter-Terrorism (Temporary Exclusion Orders) Bill 2019 and another - Consideration in Detail - Parliamentary Joint Committee on Intelligence and Security recommendations

The majority voted against amendments introduced by MP for Isaacs Mark Dreyfus (Labor), which means they failed.

What were the amendments?

MP Dreyfus explained that the amendments:

ensure that the bill conforms to the unanimous and bipartisan recommendations of Labor and government members of the intelligence committee—no more, no less ... there are 10, or possibly 11, of the unanimous recommendations of the committee that have not been agreed to by the government.

MP Dreyfus then went through each of the recommendations of the Parliamentary Joint Committee on Intelligence and Security that the government didn't implement, and set out how the Labor Party has sought to give effect to the recommendations in the amendments.

What do the bills do?

According to the bills digest:

The Counter-Terrorism (Temporary Exclusion Orders) Bill 2019 (the TEO Bill) will introduce two new orders, each of which could be made by the Minister for Home Affairs:

• a temporary exclusion order (TEO), which may prevent an Australian citizen aged 14 years or older who is overseas from returning to Australia for up to two years at a time and
• a return permit, under which the Minister may impose conditions on the person’s entry into Australia, including conditions with which the person must comply for up to 12 months after re-entering the country.

The orders are intended to enable authorities to plan for and manage the return of Australians of counter-terrorism interest (such as individuals who have fought with or otherwise supported a terrorist organisation overseas) and mitigate risks to the community posed by such individuals. Similar orders exist under United Kingdom law and have been made at least nine times since they were introduced in 2015.