DAVID KOCH:
Prime Minister, good morning to you. Before we get to the anti-terror laws, can I just follow up from Sam's interview there on baby Gammy. Is it time to overhaul the surrogacy laws?
PRIME MINISTER:
Well, we have surrogacy laws, Kochie. All of the states criminalise commercial surrogacy. Some states criminalise going overseas for commercial surrogacy. It seems that this may be a legal issue in Thailand as well, and my advice to people is don't do anything that's illegal.
DAVID KOCH:
Surrogacy Australia claims your Government has been ignoring concerns about this and you have been sitting on family law council report on the issue for seven months. Will you fast track that review?
PRIME MINISTER:
Look, this has traditionally been a matter for the states and I am not someone who naturally wants the Commonwealth to be jumping all over things that are state responsibilities. When it comes to baby Gammy, obviously, no one wants to see an unwanted child brought into the world. The really encouraging thing that has arisen from this is the fact that so many people want to help baby Gammy and baby Gammy’s mother. That’s what I would rather dwell on. The fact that notwithstanding the difficult circumstances that baby Gammy has found himself in and that baby Gammy’s mother is in, there are lots of people that are there to help. That's the encouraging thing. The difficulty with the law in a situation like this is that the law can often make complex, difficult and very personal situations worse and so I am in no hurry to rush legislatively into this particular situation.
DAVID KOCH:
All right, let's turn to your anti-terror announcements. Some of the big changes planned include more funding for spy agencies, increased power to stop potential terrorists, making it illegal to travel to a conflict zone without a legitimate reason and retaining phone and computer data. Why the need for such an extensive overhaul?
PRIME MINISTER:
Well, Kochie, we have had some 150 Australians go to Syria and Iraq to engage in terrorist activities. By comparison, we had some 30 Australians go to Afghanistan about 15 years ago to join the Taliban. Of the 25 of those who came back, some two-thirds subsequently engaged in terrorist activity. Given that we have had already five times as many go to Syria and Iraq, that gives you some indication of the potential scale of this problem.
So, what we have done is we have given the security and intelligence agencies some additional funding and we are also going to tighten the law to make it easier to charge and to successfully prosecute and jail Australians who do get involved in terrorist activities overseas. This has always been – it has long been illegal. What we have in mind are measures that will make it easier to actually make the laws effective here. I think anyone, Kochie, who has seen the internet footage of Australians born and bred holding up in delight the severed heads of surrendering Iraqi police and military personnel has got to be absolutely disgusted. The last thing we want is militarised and radicalised people roaming our streets free to do terrible things in our community.
DAVID KOCH:
Just absolutely horrific. I don't think any of us want that bloke back in this country. One of your plans is to hold on to phone and computer data, tracking individuals’ moves for up to two years. The critics say that because you're holding it for all of us, every phone call we make, you are treating us all like criminals. Is that a fair criticism?
PRIME MINISTER:
I don't believe it is. This is information which has long been held by the phone companies. It's long been held by the internet providers. All we are saying is keep holding the information that you currently collect. As technology changes there is a risk that this information won't be held in the future. It is very important if we are to keep tabs on criminal activity generally, particularly terrorist activity, all the advice from the security agency heads is that this is a vital weapon in the fight against terrorism. So, what we are saying is continue to keep this information for a reasonable period. It’s not information which isn't currently being collected that we are saying collect, as I understand it. We are saying keep the information that you currently collect; don't stop collecting this information and retain it for a couple of years.
DAVID KOCH:
Ok, fair enough. Just quickly, the Ebola outbreak that is causing a lot of concern in America. We had a Queensland businessman saying he was surprised when he came back from West Africa, he wasn't asked about his health returning here to Australia. Is this something that we also have to monitor a lot more closely?
PRIME MINISTER:
Well, that's a very fair question, Kochie. The report I got from the National Security Committee just this week is that, at this point in time, we think that the risk of an Ebola outbreak in Australia is very low, but we are keeping the situation under review because obviously if this outbreak in Africa does become more widespread, it does have more potential to spread to other parts of the world.
DAVID KOCH:
So, we are willing to step up there where necessary?
PRIME MINISTER:
We are willing to step up if needs be.
DAVID KOCH:
Prime Minister, good to catch up. Thank you for joining us.
PRIME MINISTER:
Thank you so much.
[ends]