Brandis promises parliamentary inquiry on counter-terrorism laws
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Version 0 of 1. The attorney general, George Brandis, has promised Muslim leaders a full public parliamentary committee inquiry into the second tranche of the counter-terrorism law proposals, to allay concerns the community is being targeted. Muslim community leaders, who met Brandis and saw the plans in Melbourne on Friday, said the government had not given much ground on the planned laws after consultations began at the beginning of August. Ghaith Krayem, the secretary of the Islamic Council of Victoria, was one of 50 community representatives to view draft legislation, which they were not allowed to take out of the room. Krayem said the consultation was a good start but his organisation remained concerned about the expansion of “already draconian laws”. “We are pleased though at the confirmation from the attorney general that when laws are tabled, the bill will go to a parliamentary committee and there will be a genuine public consultation,” Krayem said. “Once we knew there is a formal parliamentary process we were more relieved.” Brandis said after the meeting that the consultation would contribute “materially” to the drafting of the counter-terrorism legislation and he made the point that national security issues were a problem for all Australians. “It’s a problem that at the moment arises particularly in Islamic communities because they are being preyed upon by evil people who recruit their young men to fight in foreign wars in the Middle East, and potentially to destroy themselves and cause death and harm to others,” said Brandis. “We are here to protect the Islamic community from those predators and that’s a point I made to their leadership this morning.” The government has committed to strengthening counter-terrorism laws based on the information that 60 Australians are fighting in overseas conflicts in Iraq and Syria. Last month, Tony Abbott announced the government would provide $630m to national agencies for a raft of new security measures. The measures include the expansion of investigatory powers for intelligence and police, increased airport screening technology and increased penalties for disclosing information. One of the most contentious issues for ethnic communities is the provision requiring people returning from declared areas to prove they had been there for a legitimate purpose. The laws have angered Muslim community leaders, who are already under increasing pressure following coverage of Australian Muslim terrorists fighting overseas with the Islamic State (Isis) movement and the beheading of two American journalists. The community are also concerned at the government rhetoric, including Abbott’s use of the term Team Australia to justify the expanded powers. It followed his stated decision to drop his proposed watering down of the Racial Discrimination Act on the grounds that it was a hurdle to negotiating anti-terror laws with the Muslim community. Krayem said the community remained sceptical about the speed with which the government wanted to introduce the laws. “We keep saying you are worried about treating the last symptom, not the overall causes, but there remains a difficulty getting the government to engage in that conversation,” Krayem said. Silma Ihram, of the Australian Muslim Womens Association, said the community was reeling at both the international climate and the government’s reaction to the conflicts in Iraq and Syria. She said as a result, Islamophobia in Australia was on the rise. “People are walking around with massive headaches, they don’t know what is going happen and the government reaction to it is adding to our difficulties and leaders are left trying to hose down on all levels,” said Ihram. “[The anti-terror laws] are not the answer to that [Middle Eastern conflict],” she said. “There is a black tide of anger and resentment since the Middle East was carved up many years ago and now it is like a giant boil that is being lanced, we don’t like what we see any more than anyone else.” Imraan Husain, an imam on the executive board of the Australian National Imams Council (ANIC), said the community felt targeted because of the imbalance in the government’s reaction to Iraq and Syria without taking a strong stance on the war in Gaza. He said imams, as Muslim religious leaders, were working to ensure young marginalised Muslim men stayed connected with their communities, but when the government was not fair or just, there was a risk that it could make young people more radical. “Islamic State is a political movement, not a religious movement, that is just using the religion to justify themselves,” he said. |