The Federal Government's new proposed anti-terrorism legislation has been released, but one Liberal backbencher says the measures do not go far enough.

The Foreign Fighters Bill would create new offences for entering areas of countries that are declared as terrorist zones, and broaden the criteria for a terrorist organisation.

The Government says the 160-page document would give some law enforcement agencies extra "tools" to investigate, arrest and prosecute people supporting foreign conflicts.

But backbencher Jason Wood, a former member of the Victoria Police counter-terrorism unit, labelled the preventative detention provisions as unworkable and dangerous.

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He said they still would not allow police to question those who have been detained on preventative detention orders, or to use any information suspects may give voluntarily.

"If it's good enough for the judge to say this person should be off the streets because he's going be involved in something bad, it should be good enough for the police to ask him some questions to prevent a terrorist attack in Australia," he said.

Mr Wood said he was pretty sure his constituents would expect more from the new laws.

"They'd be pretty shocked when someone is going out to conduct a terrorist act and police can't ask them any questions about that to stop a potential terrorist act on home soil, yet if someone is picked up for shoplifting police can ask them as many questions as they like," he said.

Mr Wood first came to Parliament in 2004 in the marginal Victorian seat of La Trobe. He lost his seat in 2007 and won it back in 2013.

As a backbencher he has long been advocating tougher anti-terror laws, and on Tuesday he again raised his concerns in the joint party room.

The Government has now decided to refer the issue to Parliament's intelligence committee for review.

Wood presents COAG submissions to back up case

Mr Wood said he expected that review would be concluded quickly – perhaps within two weeks - but Attorney-General George Brandis told the party room meeting police had told him they did not need the powers.

Mr Wood said that was not true, and in the party room he presented documents to back up his case.

In a 2012 submission on counter-terrorism to a meeting of the Council of Australian Governments (COAG), the AFP had argued that "if questioning in detention was permitted it could elicit important information that could better direct police resources in preventing a terrorist attack".

West Australian police and Queensland police also raised concerns about the restriction on questioning in their COAG submissions last year.

The Queensland submission said that the ability to quickly question "could have been the difference between locating the offender in time to prevent and disrupt an imminent attack, and the attack taking place".

Mr Wood said many state laws were tougher than the federal legislation.

He said that without a change to the proposed legislation, many state police forces would use their own state laws to detain terror suspect, but may then charge them under Commonwealth laws.

He said that situation would most likely be open to High Court challenges.

Mr Wood said another loophole still needed to be closed.

Nine years ago he was calling for proper cross-referencing of police records using the national CrimTrac database, which still has not happened.

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"What concerns me at the moment is that people could be buying highly dangerous goods such as ammonium nitrate fertiliser or they could have a licence to buy explosives to be undertaking pilot training like we saw at September 11, and police have no idea what's going on," he said.

"You could have someone buying explosives in, say, Queensland, and then all of a sudden go down to Victoria and the Victorians wouldn't know anything about it."

Mr Wood said he was confident he had persuaded senior figures in the Government that more amendments were necessary.

The Coalition has described the laws as a measure that would address gaps in the nation's counter-terrorism framework.

The Foreign Fighters Bill will be introduced in the Senate today.