Tony Abbott flags crackdown on national security ahead of release of Sydney siege review

Updated

Prime Minister Tony Abbott has hinted at a national security crackdown in the wake of the deadly Sydney siege, warning Australia will not let "bad people play us for mugs".

Mr Abbott will make a security statement next Monday ahead of the release of a joint review by both the state and Commonwealth governments into the siege, which left two hostages and the gunman dead.

In a video message at the weekend, Mr Abbott said people who might be a threat to Australia had been getting the benefit of the doubt for too long.

"There's been the benefit of the doubt at our borders, the benefit of the doubt for residency, the benefit of the doubt for citizenship and the benefit of the doubt at Centrelink," he said.

"And in the courts, there has been bail, when clearly there should have been jail."

Siege gunman Man Haron Monis was on bail at the time of the Sydney attack for a string of charges, including sexual offences and abetting the murder of his ex-wife.

It has also emerged that the Iranian-born self-styled cleric was granted a visa in 1996 despite Tehran's warnings about his criminal past.

"We are a free and fair nation. But that doesn't mean we should let bad people play us for mugs, and all too often they have. Well, that's going to stop," Mr Abbott said, without providing detail on the likely changes.

Foreign Affairs Minister Julie Bishop told Sky that authorities were looking at what lessons could be learned from the Monis case.

"At every step along the way it seems from his history he was given the benefit of the doubt and quite clearly he made a number of fraudulent claims, so the Prime Minister is referring to us tightening the approach, bringing fresh eyes to consider some of the circumstances that our border protection and immigration people are presented with," she said.

She denied that stopping the benefit of the doubt meant ending the presumption of innocence.

"No, I don't believe that's what the Prime Minister is saying at all. I think we will be looking at the procedures and processes that are in place and how we can better check out stories that are presented to our authorities," Ms Bishop said.

Tasmanian federal Liberal MP Andrew Nikolic suggested Australia follow the lead of countries including Britain, France and Canada, which have moved to suspend or revoke the citizenship rights of dual nationals.

Ms Bishop today said she could already cancel or deny passports for those suspected of terrorism involvement, but is now looking at more permanent measures.

"We're now considering what we do when someone's passport has been cancelled, when they're a dual citizen they can be proven to have fought or are fighting with a terrorist organisation overseas, what can we do here in Australia to prevent them being a risk to Australians," she told Channel Seven.

Opposition Leader Bill Shorten called on Mr Abbott to clarify what concerns he had about national security.

"He has said there is softness in the system, well that's alarming and I think Tony Abbott needs to come clear about where he thinks the softness is," Mr Shorten said.

"Then what we will do is work with him to make sure Australians are safe. That's our record."

Greens leader Christine Milne accused Mr Abbott of using security to bolster his leadership.

"We've got a Prime Minister who is so desperate that he is trying to press the terror button, press the fear, the anxiety, the difference, the division button in order to shore up his own position," she said.

Ms Milne also said it was offensive to include Centrelink in a list of agencies concerned with national security.

Bail mostly a matter for state jurisdictions

Mr Abbott's reference to bail when there should have been jail is mostly a matter for state jurisdictions.

In a statement to AM, West Australian Attorney-General Michael Mischin said Mr Abbott was "plainly generalising from a specific case, dealt with in New South Wales, about a specific type of irrational and fanatical offender whose entry into and continuing presence in Australia was the Commonwealth's responsibility".

"The question of bail was one for the NSW authorities and legal system, and its courts, about which I cannot comment until I know more and am able to compare jurisdictional approaches," he said.

Mr Mischin said his state had stringent bail laws that sought to appropriately balance the presumption of innocence against the risk to community safety.

But he said he would take into account any lessons that could be learned from the Lindt cafe incident.

As well as bail, Ms Bishop said Mr Abbott was looking at a crackdown on Hizb ut-Tahrir — the group he accused of nurturing extremism.

The Prime Minister also wants new laws to force telecommunications companies to store metadata for two years, arguing it would help with crimes ranging from child exploitation to terrorism.

"The rise of the Islamist death cult in the Middle East has seen the emergence of new threats where any extremist can grab a knife, a flag, a camera phone and a victim and carry out a terror attack," Mr Abbott said.

"As a nation we are responding to this threat. Abroad, Australia is working with allies to disrupt and degrade the Islamist death cult. At home, we have provided our security services with more powers, more resources and stronger laws.

"We are currently considering additional legislation on data retention that's before the Parliament — and this will make it easier to keep you safe, and we want to get this legislation passed as quickly as we can.

"I give you this assurance: as a country, we won't let evil people exploit our freedom."

Mr Abbott wants Labor's backing for the law to be passed next month.

The Opposition said it would reserve its position until Parliament's joint intelligence committee report was released at the end of this month.

Topics: abbott-tony, terrorism, federal-government, government-and-politics, immigration, defence-and-national-security, australia, nsw, sydney-2000

First posted