Parliament is about to consider a range of changes to Australia’s security laws introduced by the Abbott government during its last sitting. The most controversial measures in the National Security Legislation…
Prime Minister Tony Abbott has spent recent weeks attempting to rally support for mooted anti-terror laws that would block the return of Australian jihadists fighting alongside Islamic State (IS) in Syria…
The government’s mooted legislation to tackle returning foreign fighters will undoubtedly make it easier to detect and prosecute those involved in terrorism overseas. This means many returned fighters…
With the leaking of a discussion paper on telecommunications data retention, we are at last starting to get some clarity as to just what metadata the Abbott government is likely to ask telecommunications…
The Parliamentary Joint Committee on Intelligence and Security (PJCIS) will publish its report on the National Security Legislation Amendment Bill (No. 1) 2014 (Cth) sometime during this sitting of parliament…
Privacy and individuals’ ability to remain anonymous are important protections against persecution, bullying, intimidation and retaliation. These can be perpetrated by other people, private businesses…
Australia’s prime minister Tony Abbott is uncommonly fond of sport metaphors, not least when addressing the domestic terror threat. His latest championing of “Team Australia” in trying to sell his government’s…
So far, the ongoing discussions about radicalisation of extremists both at home and abroad have tended to emphasise its sociological aspects. It has focused on concepts such as the religion and social…
David Irvine retires next month after five years as Director-General of Security, heading ASIO; before that he was head of the Australian Secret Intelligence Service, which spies abroad. He’s spent more…
Australia and the United States have agreed to take the issue of foreign fighters to the United Nations, as ASIO chief David Irvine today outlined an increasing local threat from Islamist extremists. After…
The Abbott government’s shift from Voltaire to Orwell last week is an act of political desperation. Replacing divisive changes to the Racial Discrimination Act (because they have no hope of going anywhere…
University of Canberra Vice-Chancellor Stephen Parker and Professorial Fellow Michelle Grattan discuss the week in politics including Communications Minister Malcolm Turnbull, the mandatory metadata retention…
Proper “process” might sound like bureaucratic jargon but a prime minister ignores it at his or her peril. Applied to cabinet, it includes making sure ministers have all the facts. Importantly, it requires…
The Abbott government will soon unveil the legislative details of its second tranche of revamped anti-terrorism measures. The government introduced the first set of reforms into the Senate in July. One…
If there is one member of cabinet who understands the ins and outs of metadata, it’s Communications Minister Malcolm Turnbull. Yet Turnbull has so far been nowhere to be heard as the government tries to…
It can be cast as cutting and running, or a belated burst of much needed pragmatism. Tony Abbott’s ditching of his ill-conceived attempt to water down the Racial Discrimination Act gets a weight off his…
The government has dropped its planned weakening of the Racial Discrimination Act (RDA) as it announces a tough set of anti-terrorism measures that will cost $630 million over four years. Prime Minister…
The Abbott government has unveiled the first in what is expected to be a suite of reforms aimed at strengthening Australia’s national security. The bill introduced into the Senate yesterday by attorney-general…
Warnings about the dangers of climate change are coming from some new and not so new places. Military, security and foreign policy advisors, financial marketeers, the White House – all have recently set…