Labor demands changes to foreign fighters' bill
Labor will demand changes to the Morrison government's controversial scheme to stop Australian terrorists returning home, after identifying sections of the draft law it believes could breach the constitution.
Opposition Leader Anthony Albanese and his shadow cabinet colleagues will insist on a renewed inquiry into the "exclusion orders" that would allow Home Affairs Minister Peter Dutton to keep foreign fighters out of Australia.
While Labor will back the aim of the bill this week, it will hold out against the immediate passage of the law on the grounds that sections are too "vague" about the significant powers they give to the home affairs minister.
A key concern is that the bill allows the minister to make a "temporary exclusion order" based on an assessment by the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation (ASIO) without a more robust legal framework.
Labor's home affairs spokeswoman, Kristina Keneally, wants the bill to make it clear that the order to turn away a foreign fighter should be based on an adverse security assessment, a formal finding with an accepted legal definition.
The Labor concern is that there is a "lack of precision" in the grounds for making a temporary exclusion order given that the "assessment" by ASIO does not have to be in any particular form.
The Law Council of Australia has warned that parts of the bill could breach the constitution by giving a minister the power to punish someone suspected of a criminal offence rather than having the case heard in a court.
Prime Minister Scott Morrison claimed in Parliament on Monday that the government was always stronger than Labor on national security, an argument that infuriated Mr Albanese and his colleagues during question time.
"What I have noted in my time in this place is that it has always been those who sit on this side of the House [who] have always brought the stronger position," Mr Morrison said.
Mr Albanese rejected that claim and has accepted the case for the new exclusion orders while holding out for changes to the bill to meet the recommendations of the parliamentary joint committee on intelligence and security.
A Labor source estimated the government bill did not act fully on 11 out of 18 of the recommendations by the committee in a bipartisan report earlier this year.
The Labor caucus is to consider the foreign fighters' bill on Tuesday morning after the subject went to shadow cabinet on Monday night.
While Labor may have to accept the bill without change if it is put to a vote in the lower house this week, it will seek further changes in the Senate.
The Counter-Terrorism (Temporary Exclusion Orders) Bill would set up two new orders to be made by the home affairs minister.
The first would prevent an Australian citizen aged 14 years or older from returning to Australia for up to two years if suspected of engaging in terrorism overseas. The second would allow the minister to issue a "return permit" and impose conditions on the individual when he or she returns.