NSW premier says state ‘will not be budging’ but she is happy to support Turnbull’s counter-terrorism laws

This article is more than 2 years old

This article is more than 2 years old

The New South Wales premier, Gladys Berejiklian, has stared down a federal government threat to use GST distribution as a lever to overturn state gas bans but has agreed to proposed anti-terrorism measures.

Speaking to Radio National on Thursday before the Council of Australian Governments meeting, Berejiklian also defended the NSW government’s plan to extend the detention of convicted criminals if their words or actions in prison suggest they would pose an ongoing terrorist threat if released.

The federal government has threatened to use goods and services tax distribution as a lever to force states to end bans on gas exploration and development, which has now been rejected by NSW and Victoria’s governments.

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Berejiklian said the previous NSW Labor government had issued coal seam gas licences “like confetti”, which was “completely unacceptable”.

“The community spoke loudly and clearly and said, ‘You need to protect prime agricultural land, you need to protect our water catchments’, and that’s exactly what we’ve done,” she said.

Berejiklian said the NSW government “will not be budging”. Asked about the GST threat, the premier replied she was “not losing any sleep over New South Wales’ position”.

The Commonwealth Grants Commission is considering whether failure to exploit gas should count against states for the purposes of GST distribution but has already concluded factoring that in would do little to affect GST revenues in the short term.

Earlier, the Australian Industry Group chief executive, Innes Willox, said Victoria, New South Wales and the Northern Territory “have a lot to answer for here with their restrictions on gas exploration and extraction” and “have to do much more” to increase supply.

Berejiklian said NSW’s gas production levels have not changed much in the last decade, so it was “not a large gas-producing state”.

On Thursday the Victorian premier, Daniel Andrews, told Sky News there was “no shortage of supply”, as Victoria produced enough gas to supply 7.2m households and only used about 3.6m households’ worth.

“The real issue here is not supply, it’s where the gas is being sent,” he said. “Some of us, the prime minister, for instance, and others, can’t seem to recognise the centre of debate is that Australian gas should be for Australian households and Australian businesses.”

Although NSW and Victoria are expected to raise the gas issue at Coag, the meeting has been called to discuss a uniform law to allow terrorism suspects to be held without charge for 14 days and new commonwealth criminal offences for possession of instructional terrorist material and engaging in terrorism hoaxes.

The NSW Council of Civil Liberties has said the detention regime is “inappropriate in a free society”.

Asked about the proposal to allow federal police easier access to state drivers’ licences for surveillance and facial recognition, Berejiklian said she was “comfortable” about signing up because only security authorities would have access to the information.

“I accept you need the right balance, people do need to know their privacy is protected, but when it’s essential information which will be dealt with by security agencies … I do feel the public interest overrides that.”

Andrews said if technology could be used to identify a suspect going into a an event with large crowds “that could potentially save many many lives”.

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“We’re going to have to curtail the rights and freedoms of a small number of people in order to keep millions more safe,” he said. “I think that’s a price worth paying. That’s why today I think we’ll have furious agreement about pre-charge detention, the use of technology for biometrics and facial recognition and many other elements of the package.”

On Wednesday Berejiklian announced new state laws to allow the supreme court to indefinitely extend the detention of convicted criminals if police and other authorities believe they are still likely to be a risk of causing death or harm if released.

Asked if that constituted punishing thought crime, Berejiklian said it was a presumption to detain people based on their “activity … what they’re doing [and] what they’re saying” in prison.

“It’s beyond having a thought,” she said. “If we’re being advised someone will continue to be a threat to society once they’ve completed their sentence, we need to take action in that regard.”