Innocent passengers won't be detained at airports, Scott Morrison says
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Version 0 of 1. The immigration minister says specialist training undertaken by customs counter-terrorism officers will prevent innocent people being detained arbitrarily at airports as a result of the Abbott government’s enhanced national security measures. Scott Morrison used a speech at the National Press Club on Wednesday to declare “the government must stop the terrorists” – and he provided some additional details of legislative measures intended to allow successful prosecutions of foreign fighters expected to be introduced to federal parliament this month. Asked what safeguards the government proposed to put in place to ensure that only persons of interest were detained at Australian airports in an environment of heightened national security risk, Morrison replied the relevant safeguard was the “exceptional” training undertaken by Australian customs officers. “Our officers are exceptionally well trained,” he said. Late last year the convicted terrorist Khaled Sharrouf departed Australia for the conflict in Syria using his brother’s passport. A picture was later posted on social media and reprinted by news outlets in Australia and elsewhere of a young boy, reported to be Sharrouf’s son, clutching the severed head of a Syrian soldier. Morrison addressed that apparent security lapse during his appearance at the press club. He acknowledged that the screening settings that applied last December “needed to be changed”. The minister said the Coalition had now moved to adjust airport procedures and had increased resources to the tune of $150m. Despite the implicit concession, the immigration minister continued to contend it was Labor’s fault for depriving the customs system of resources, and for not adjusting the security screening settings – even though Sharrouf absconded in December 2013, when the Coalition was in government. Morrison outlined an expansion of advance passenger processing and the airline liaison officer network – measures building on an expansion of counter-terrorism capacity at big Australian airports. He also provided some additional details about the legislative package the Abbott government proposes to introduce in a fortnight. The minister said the looming foreign fighters package would address “shortcomings” in the Customs Act when it came to detaining persons of interest. It would also contain changes to the Migration Act “to better support the use and retention of information captured from automated border processing technology and requiring carriers to provide information in advance on departing travellers through an approved reporting system”. The package would also provide the Asio director general with the power to issue “an interim prejudicial security assessment”. This measure would allow people’s passports to be cancelled. Morrison acknowledged there was now a “gap” in the legal framework when it came to both the detention of persons of interest and the successful prosecution of people engaged in jihadi activities overseas. He provided a specific example concerning airport detention. Customs officers, he said, now had a very narrow window of opportunity for detaining people and “inviting” other agencies to conduct investigations – and this was something the government would need to address. The immigration minister noted that Australians were, intrinsically, easygoing people. “We like to think we are a long way from all the trouble spots of the world but as the world grows smaller, then obviously the threats that can present from other places can have a much greater impact here,” he said. Morrison said the clear signal on Tuesday night from the director general of Asio, David Irvine, that Australia’s terrorism threat level would shortly be adjusted upwards – for the first time since 2003 – underscored the tangible and present nature of the threat. These threats were “not imagined, made up, [they are] real”. The threat alert is now set at medium. This setting signifies that a domestic terrorist incident is possible. A “high” alert means a domestic attack is likely. The Labor leader, Bill Shorten, was asked on Wednesday morning about the looming change in Australia’s threat alert level. He told reporters Labor had sought a briefing on Irvine’s comments on Tuesday evening. Shorten paid tribute to Irvine, who retires at the end of the week. On the threat level, the Labor leader said the opposition would await concrete developments. “I think it’s important on one hand not to be complacent but on the other hand not to scare people unnecessarily. I’ll wait until our security agencies form a view about the need to change our threat levels before commenting.” |