Majority report

1.1        The Counter-Terrorism Legislation Amendment (Foreign Fighters) Bill 2014 (the Bill) was introduced into the Senate by the Attorney-General, Senator Brandis, on 24 September 2014.[1] On the same day, the Attorney-General referred the Bill to the Parliamentary Joint Committee on Intelligence and Security pursuant to subsection 29(1)(b)(i) of the Intelligence Services Act 2001. The next day, the Senate (on the recommendation of the Selection of Bills Committee) referred the Bill to the Senate Legal and Constitutional Affairs Legislation Committee (the committee) for inquiry and report.[2] Both the Parliamentary Joint Committee and this committee were due to make their reports by 17 October 2014.

1.2        The Bill is the second of three pieces of legislation that have been introduced in the context of current threats to national security. The first, the National Security Legislation Amendment Bill (No. 1) 2014,[3] was passed by the Senate on 25 September and by the House of Representatives on 1 October.[4] The third, which is to be introduced later this year, will mandate the retention of metadata by telecommunications and internet service providers.[5]

1.3        As noted above, the Bill has been referred to this committee and also to the Parliamentary Joint Committee on Intelligence and Security. That committee has made a public call for submissions and has held public hearings. This committee’s website will direct interested parties to the relevant Parliamentary Joint Committee on Intelligence and Security inquiry webpage.

1.4        Given that the Bill, which primarily concerns intelligence and security matters, has already been referred to the Parliamentary Joint Committee on Intelligence and Security, the committee has decided not to duplicate the work of that committee by conducting a parallel inquiry.

Senator the Hon Ian Macdonald
Chair

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