Topics: Counter terror strategy and funding announcement to keep Australians safe, Australia’s provision of aid to assist Ukraine war, Putin attendance of G20, likelihood of cyber attacks from Russia.
KAREN ANDREWS: Well, good morning. Today I’m announcing the Morrison Government’s 2022 Counter Terrorism Strategy, and additional funding to make sure that high-risk terrorist offenders are properly surveilled when, and if, they are ever released from prison. The third part of today’s announcement is that we will be working with states and territories to establish a National Terrorist Register so that those people who have been convicted of terrorist offences are properly registered and police have access to that on an ongoing basis. Now, in relation to the terrorist threat in Australia, it remains at probable, which means that there are individuals or organisations that we are aware of with the ability and the intent to do Australians harm. So the threat has not diminished at all. It has been at probable since 2014. So this part of the Morrison Government’s strategy to make sure that if those terrorists offenders – there are currently 144 who are in jail at the moment with about 18 potentially able to be released within the next four years – if, and when, those offenders are released we need to make sure that they are properly monitored and surveilled. We have passed relevant legislation to make sure that we’ll be able to keep these people in prison for longer or, in the event that they are released, that they can be subject to expended supervision orders. We will be able to put in place the monitoring such as being able to surveil them, but put restrictions on where they can go, when they can go, what information they can look at online. This is a very important and necessary step from the Morrison Government. I’m happy to take questions.
JOURNALIST: Minister Andrews, is there any particular reason you’re making this announcement in Newcastle?
KAREN ANDREWS: Well, people think that terrorism only ever happens in capital cities, and that is far from the truth. Recently I announced additional funding for programs for deradicalisation that would take place in rural and regional parts of Australia. So Newcastle is no different than other parts of Australia – it’s important that we make sure that people right across Australia understand that the threat of terrorism is real. And I don’t say that to scare people; I say it to make sure that people are aware that the risks are there and they will continue to be there.
JOURNALIST: I guess with everything that’s going on in the world at the moment terrorism has probably been just down a notch from world events.
KAREN ANDREWS: Well, unfortunately, that’s what the terrorists are likely to look at, so they will be opportunistic. They will take advantage of anything that might distract from the work that they are doing. That’s why it’s important that the Morrison Government continues to fund our AFP, for example, and we’re doing that to the tune of $1.7 billion. But we’re also refining our strategies, communicating that with the public so that they are aware of the risk.
JOURNALIST: Just shifting the framework slightly, if that’s okay, to the Russia-Ukraine war at the moment, we’ve seen weapons sent from Australia, Newcastle providing a shipment of coal to keep power stations running. There are sanctions in place. Are there any other strategies that are imminent as far as regional [indistinct] Australia?
KAREN ANDREWS: We will continue to monitor the situation, as we have been doing for quite some time. And we will take appropriate action. We’ve continue to call for a diplomatic response to the Russian invasion of Ukraine. We are calling on Russia to retreat, to pull out of Ukraine. But we do understand how important it is that we support Ukraine and, quite frankly, people across the world have been in awe of the response in Ukraine and the people there have stood and fought for their country. We are providing humanitarian support, which is primarily going into Poland to support women and children who have crossed the border from Ukraine into Poland, and who will wish to return to Ukraine when the war is over. Hopefully very, very soon. We have lethal and non-lethal weapons. We have got sanctions in place, many of those are economic sanctions. We will continue to look at what we need to do, but we will work very closely with the United States and the United Kingdom.
JOURNALIST: Is the door opening to any refugees settling in Australia?
KAREN ANDREWS: We have certainly been very open to that, and I know that many communities are very happy to welcome people from the Ukraine here. At this point in time we know that many of the people who have crossed the border are women and children; men who are between the ages of 18 to 60 are required to stay and fight in Ukraine. So we know that many of the families, the women and children, would want to return to Ukraine. But certainly over time we will be very welcoming of anyone from Ukraine who choose to come to Australia as part of a humanitarian program or, quite frankly, as part of our skilled migration program.
JOURNALIST: Would the infrastructure be there? Back in [indistinct], I think it was, Hunter Valley/Singleton provided refuge for Kosovar refugees.
KAREN ANDREWS: We would certainly work with the state and territory governments, but I do believe that the infrastructure is there to manage people who may wish to come to this country from Ukraine. We would need to monitor that very closely, because we want to be able to provide the right support to those people when they do come here. And people in the Hunter have been so welcoming in the past. And just recently during the last day or so I’ve been hearing from many of the businesses here in the Hunter, and they are very concerned about skills shortages, so I know that they would be very welcoming of people from Ukraine but other parts of the world who have appropriate skills to come and settle here.
JOURNALIST: Just in regards to the register and the surveillance that that will entail, would that be targeted around individual ideological motivations of the predicted offenders, or would it be a one-size-fits-all approach?
KAREN ANDREWS: We will actually set up the register so that it properly records terrorists irrespective of what they have done. So violent extremists, ideologically motivated violent extremist, religiously motivated – we will not exclude anyone from that register. Violent extremism in all of its forms is abhorrent. Certainly not condoned or supported here. We want to have those people locked up, but we also want to make sure that there’s a register that if ever they come out into the community state and federal policing and other authorities are aware of who they are and where they are.
JOURNALIST: Will that include far right extremist groups in Australia?
KAREN ANDREWS: It will one all forms of extremists. Now, I have been very clear when I have listed terrorist organisations I take advice from our law enforcement and our intelligence agencies, and I list extremist groups, terrorist groups, when they meet the threshold. I have listed most recently The Base. I have also listed Hizbollah in its entirety and Hamas, and I will look at the terrorist threat irrespective of how it is motivated.
JOURNALIST: Okay, so on the national security question, is this new money?
KAREN ANDREWS: Yes, this is new money that is being provided to make sure that our high-risk terrorist offenders are properly surveilled if they ever come out of prison, as is the new money for the terrorist offenders.
JOURNALIST: What’s the record of the register so far? What is it achieving?
KAREN ANDREWS: The register is going to be newly established. So far there hasn’t been one that has been set up in Australia that lists the terrorist offenders. So this is work that I will undertake with my state and territory colleagues who will work together collaboratively to establish the register and make sure that we are maintaining on that the information that is needed.
JOURNALIST: Moving on to Russia, you’ve warned of cyber attacks. Have there been any registered so far?
KAREN ANDREWS: Well, we are very conscious of the impacts of any cyber attack here in Australia. That’s why we have passed legislation to protect our critical infrastructure. And there’s more legislation currently before the parliament. We are very conscious of the activities of Russia. We work very closely with the United States and the United Kingdom. We are monitoring that situation. We are aware that there is a heightened risk and we are encouraging all individuals and businesses to look at their cyber defences, their cyber security and make sure that they are prepared in the event that there is a cyber attack.
JOURNALIST: What do you think of Mr Putin going to talks in Indonesia at the G20?
KAREN ANDREWS: Well, I think that Mr Putin should be concentrating very much on the Russian withdrawal from Ukraine, and that should be his priority-
JOURNALIST: I’ve got a couple of just –
KAREN ANDREWS: – not to run and hide. And I think that the media have a responsibility to put him under intense questioning, like they were prepared to do with the Liberal Party and Scott Morrison. In Anthony Albanese you have an individual that is wanting to the Prime Minister of Australia, and what he has done is run and hide. Time’s up, Anthony. You actually need to start answering some questions. Thank you.