12th Aug 2021, 12:48 PM – Senate Counter-Terrorism Legislation Amendment (Sunsetting Review and Other Measures) Bill 2021 - in Committee - Declared areas offence amendments

The majority voted against amendments introduced by WA Senator Rachel Siewert (Greens), which means they failed. The amendments would have only extended the sunset date for the declared area provisions to 7 December 2022 (as opposed to 7 September 2024) and would have required the intelligence and security committee to do a review of those provisions by 7 June 2022.

Amendment text

(1) Schedule 1, item 1, page 3 (line 5), omit "7 September 2024", substitute "7 December 2022".

(2) Schedule 1, item 4, page 3 (lines 13 to 17), omit paragraph 29(1) (bbaa), substitute:

(bbaa) to review, by 7 June 2022, the operation, effectiveness and proportionality of sections 119.2 and 119.3 of the Criminal Code (which provide for declared areas in relation to foreign incursion and recruitment)

What does the bill do?

According to the bill homepage, the bill was introduced:

• to extend the operation of the declared areas provisions for a further 3 years and the control order regime and the preventative detention orders (PDO) regime for a further 15 months;
• to provide that the Parliamentary Joint Committee on Intelligence and Security may review the operation, effectiveness and proportionality of the declared areas provisions prior to their sunset date;
• to extend the operation of the stop, search and seizure powers for a further 15 months; and
• to extend the reporting date for the Independent National Security Legislation Monitor’s review of continuing detention orders for high risk terrorist offenders to as soon as practicable after 7 December 2021.