Tony Abbott denies national security measures alienating parts of community
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Version 0 of 1. No one should feel alienated by the Australian government’s national security crackdowns, Tony Abbott said, as he announced changes to counter-terrorism responsibilities and prepared to reveal tougher citizenship laws. Abbott said the justice minister, Michael Keenan – who already oversees the Australian federal police – would focus on countering violent extremism and coordinating the efforts of agencies in a new role as minister assisting the prime minister on counter-terrorism. Keenan will not, however, gain extra powers to approve warrants. He will work alongside public servant Greg Moriarty, who takes on an associated official-level role as commonwealth counter-terrorism coordinator within the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet. In the past year, the government has focused heavily on toughening security laws and channelling extra funding into police and intelligence agencies, but has faced criticism from some experts and Islamic groups for not doing enough community outreach and for using terms such as “Team Australia”. Abbott said the government would announce changes to citizenship laws in coming days. This is expected to include removing Australian citizenship from dual nationals who have fought for terrorist groups. The prime minister said the government had no intention of leaving people stateless and he rejected suggestions Australian Muslims should be feel alienated by the series of crackdowns. “I know that there are some people who say that they feel alienated by this, but no one should feel alienated by the government’s efforts to ensure that our community is as safe as is humanly possible and no one should feel alienated by our determination to ensure that everyone in our country takes the citizenship pledge seriously,” Abbott said. “All our new citizens pledge their commitment to Australia and its people, our democratic values, our rights and liberties, our laws. That’s what everyone does and we think that those commitments should mean something and that’s what we’re determined to ensure, that the commitments that everyone makes to our country, that everyone should have to our country are real and not just rhetorical.” A recent review of Australia’s counter-terrorism machinery recommended a senior official be designated as counter-terrorism coordinator to ensure police and agencies were working closely together to prevent attacks. Moriarty, a former ambassador to Iran and Indonesia, will move from his position as deputy secretary of the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade to take on the official-level role. Abbott said agencies including the AFP and the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation would retain their responsibility for their own operations, but it was important they were “as well networked with each other as possible”. “It’s very important that the line agencies are as aware of their key developments as is possible and that’s what Greg Moriarty will be doing at the official level and that’s what Minister Keenan will be doing at the political level,” he said. Abbott said Keenan would attend meetings of the national security committee of cabinet when it discussed counter-terrorism issues, but there would be no changes to existing warrant authorisation procedures. After the prime minister announced the new arrangements, the attorney general, George Brandis, acknowledged the government needed to “elevate” efforts to prevent youth from being radicalised. He said: “Increasingly, we know that stopping this problem at source, anticipating it before it metastasises into an irretrievable problem, is an essential element of meeting the terrorist challenge and that’s particularly acute now that we see this very alarming trend that younger and younger people now, people of 14 and 15 years old, are being radicalised. “So I recommended to the prime minister that we concentrate and elevate the countering violent extremism function to a greater extent than it had been emphasised hitherto.” Keenan said Australia was “very well served by world-class law enforcement and intelligence agencies” but agencies needed to ensure that efforts to counter radical and violent ideologies were well coordinated with the states and territories. Labor welcomed Moriarty, saying he brought a wealth of experience to the role, and pledged to continue to take a “constructive, bipartisan and considered” approach to national security. |