Australia plans to launch series of new counter-terrorism laws
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Australia is set to introduce new counter-terrorism laws, Prime Minister Tony Abbott said yesterday, with the package expected to include stripping dual nationals who are linked to terrorism of their citizenship.
There has also been speculation that the plan to amend citizenship laws, which was disclosed in February, could affect second-generation Australians who carry only one passport.
At the same time, the government is considering introducing a “jihadi watch” program in schools, which would keep tabs on pupils whose behavior suggests they might have been radicalized, it was announced yesterday.
“It’s long been the case that if you have served with the armed forces of a country at war with Australia, you automatically lose your citizenship,” Abbott said.
“People who are fighting with terrorist groups overseas or who are engaged in terrorist activities here in Australia are effectively taking up arms against us. And it’s very hard to imagine that we should allow to remain in the bosom of our country people who are trying to destroy us.”
Australia raised its threat level to high last September and has since carried out a series of counter-terrorism raids, with several alleged plots foiled this year.
Canberra has also taken a tough stance against radicalized citizens amid alarm at the departure of more than 100 of its nationals to Iraq and Syria to fight alongside jihadists including the Islamic State group.
Abbott last Tuesday ruled out any leniency for returning jihadists following reports three citizens suspected of fighting with IS were negotiating with the government to come home.
An inquest resumes today into a Sydney cafe siege in December in which two hostages and the gunman, Iranian-born self-styled cleric Man Haron Monis, died.
The first two weeks of the inquest will explore Monis’s background.
The prime minister would not comment on a media report published on Thursday that his government was also exploring the possibility of stripping second-generation Australians of citizenship if they are linked to terrorist activity.
He said further details of the changes would be released in a few days.
The possible measures, which were raised in The Australian newspaper, would force such nationals to take on citizenship of their parents’ birth countries.
Immigration Minister Peter Dutton told the newspaper that other citizenship rights, such as voting and welfare, could also be lost.
Concern about young Australians being radicalized online has also prompted the government to consider the “jihadi watch” program in schools, where teachers and students are trained to spot pupils whose behavior might be changing, Attorney-General George Brandis said yesterday.
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