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Legislative Council - Fifty-Third Parliament, Second Session (53-2)
2017-06-21 Daily Xml
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Terrorism Screening

The Hon. D.G.E. HOOD (14:41): I seek leave to make a brief explanation before asking the Minister for Police a question relating to terrorism screening in South Australia.

Leave granted.

The Hon. D.G.E. HOOD: Earlier this month, as members would be aware, a South Australian woman was arrested for a terrorism-related offence. It is alleged that the accused had pledged allegiance to, and is a member of, the terrorist organisation Islamic State. Obviously, that matter is yet to be proven, but those are the allegations. It is also reported the accused was prevented from boarding a flight in July last year in associated events. My questions to the minister are:

1. How long was South Australia Police monitoring this individual?

2. What is SAPOL's role in preventing so-called radicalisation and especially the radicalisation of young persons, which most often occurs online, as I understand it?

3. Given the heightened terrorism threat level in the United Kingdom and the upgrading of their warnings and status in that nation, is there any change to the terrorism threat level in South Australia?

The Hon. P. MALINAUSKAS (Minister for Police, Minister for Correctional Services, Minister for Emergency Services, Minister for Road Safety) (14:41): I will start with the last part of the Hon. Mr Hood's question. I thank the honourable member for his question because this is obviously an area that is topical at the moment and one that a lot of work is being done around by our security agencies, both at the state and federal levels. Certainly, the state government is doing its part when it comes to working with those respective agencies to ensure we are doing everything that needs to be done in a legislative context, as well.

The national terrorism threat level is a national scheme, and that still sits at 'probable'. It hasn't changed in light of recent events that we have seen occur around the country. The national terrorism threat level of 'probable' is, of course, already at a relatively high setting. But that remains the case. South Australia doesn't have a separate threat level; it is simply a national terrorism threat level. However, in respect to South Australia specifically, I am pleased to be able to report that, as it stands, there is no particular intelligence that SAPOL is in possession of that suggests there is any particular heightened or different risk in South Australia.

That is relatively good news; however, we are at pains, as a government, to make sure that the community understands that we are operating in a riskier world. It is important that, although there may not be any specific intelligence at hand at the moment suggesting there is a particular risk in South Australia, the community does not remain complacent and instead remains vigilant and aware. Of course, if they witness any other activities in the community that they believe to be suspicious or that may represent a risk, they should pass that information along as quickly as possible to the appropriate authorities. In South Australia, generally speaking, that is SAPOL.

Regarding the recent arrest that the Hon. Mr Hood refers to, the woman has now been remanded into custody and is in a custodial environment under the custody of the Department for Corrections. Her case is now subject to the appropriate court proceedings and we will be watching that closely. The advice I have received up until this point from SAPOL is that, on the back of that arrest, there isn't any particular cause for alarm. There is no suggestion that the alleged offender is engaged in a broader network within South Australia. That, again, speaks to the intelligence I was referring to earlier that there isn't any particular risk in South Australia.

The work of our police agencies, working closely with our federal counterparts, particularly in ASIO and the AFP through the joint counterterrorism task force, remains ongoing. We receive regular updates as a result of that work. Of course, if the situation changes, then it would be my expectation that we receive that appropriate information via the police commissioner. Of course, if the police commissioner were ever to come to the government and suggest there needed to be a change legislatively in terms of authorities that police have, or indeed if there was a particular call and request, the government would readily consider those as they come across, but as yet there is no overwhelming desire on behalf of police to make substantial changes in terms of investment in resources or powers within the police.

The government is working hard to make sure we get the balance right here. We don't want to be a government that is unnecessarily alarmist, to the extent that we cause panic or confusion within our community. I think it is imperative and paramount that, as a society, we continue to live our everyday lives. We are fortunate and blessed to live in a free country. We live in a state that does have a good record when it comes to the safety of our citizens. We would hate to see that the events that have occurred overseas by an extremist few would somehow impede the capacity of ordinary South Australians to go about living their everyday lives.

We do not want that lifestyle to change in South Australia, and so we are committed to ensuring that is the case. Similarly, we want to make sure that, as a government, we are fulfilling our responsibilities of ensuring that we are providing the appropriate safeguards, the appropriate powers and the appropriate resources within our agencies to ensure that nothing goes wrong in the first place. It is a balance we want to continue to pursue, and I am very grateful that thus far there is every evidence that our security agencies are doing all the work that we reasonably expect of them to ensure that we keep the South Australian people safe.

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