Subjects: Terror attacks; Australian citizenship; same sex marriage.
E&OE……………………….……………………………………………………………
PRIME MINISTER:
Again Australians have woken up to news of horrific terrorist attacks overseas overnight. We saw a decapitation in France, a gruesome attack on western tourists in Tunisia and a horrific outrage in Kuwait where a mosque has been attacked.
The Daesh death cult has claimed responsibility for one of the attacks. It seems that one of the other attacks was inspired by Daesh. This illustrates, yet again, that as far as the Daesh death cult is concerned, it is coming after us. We may not always feel that we are at war with them, but they certainly think that they are at war with us.
Under these circumstances it is more important than ever that we maintain our level of vigilance and that we do everything that we reasonably can to disrupt, degrade and ultimately destroy this death cult at home and abroad.
As you all know Australia has a strong military force that is working with coalition partners in the Middle East. Here at home we are working at every level to keep the community safe. That will continue because the one thing that you will always get from this Government is a strong defence of our nation, its citizens, its interests, its values and a very, very strong determination to do everything we humanly can to keep the people of Australia safe.
QUESTION:
Is there any indication that the attacks were coordinated in any way?
PRIME MINISTER:
I have had a preliminary briefing this morning. I was being kept up to date with developments overnight. I have asked for the national security committee to come together early afternoon to look at precisely these questions. At this stage it seems that there are no Australian victims. It is too early to say whether there was an element of coordination in these attacks but obviously that is something we will be keeping under review.
QUESTION:
Mr Abbott, you say that it appears that Daesh is coming after us but is there any heightened threat at home?
PRIME MINISTER:
Some time ago we raised the threat level from medium to high and that regrettably means that attacks are expected because there are people with the intention and the capability of carrying out attacks. As we know the death cult is regularly admonishing its supporters and sympathisers around the world to kill – that is what it is doing. Regrettably, as we saw in France, all you need for terrorism these days is a knife, a flag, a camera phone and a victim. This is the grim reality that the world faces now. This is why it is so important – it is so important – that the message get out there that what is being done by Daesh has nothing to do with God, it has nothing to do with religion, it has nothing to do with building a better world.
QUESTION:
Are you proposing any more domestic measures?
PRIME MINISTER:
Not at this stage but as you know, Michelle, we are constantly reviewing what we are doing. You do know, obviously, that we have got legislation before the Parliament to strip citizenship from terrorists who are dual nationals. We have got a citizenship consultation taking place right now led by Philip Ruddock and Senator Concetta Fierravanti-Wells that is looking at the whole range of citizenship. As I said during the week in my Magna Carta speech, the horrors associated with Australians going abroad to fight with Daesh, that is the modern form of treason and perhaps we need something like the modern form of banishment to deal with it.
QUESTION:
Prime Minister, Philip Ruddock did say during the week that he fears that people are being radicalised in prison. If that is the case is there enough money being spent on de-radicalisation programmes in prison and is this a focusing concern of your government?
PRIME MINISTER:
We have committed about $40 million to de-radicalisation programmes. Obviously, states and territories have their own programmes, including, as I understand it, programmes in the prisons which they run.
Obviously, it is important that prisons do not become universities for crime; whether it be standard crime or terrorist crime – it is very important that prisons do not become universities for crime, particularly for terrorism. I would expect prison authorities right around Australia to be breaking up any cells which appear to be forming in our prisons.
QUESTION:
Prime Minister, on the US Supreme Court decision, do you concede that global momentum is building for marriage equality?
PRIME MINISTER:
Look, I note the US Supreme Court decision. I haven’t had a chance to study it but, look, what happens in the United States is obviously a matter for the United States just as what happened in Ireland a few weeks ago is a matter for the Irish. As for our own country, obviously, there is a community debate going on. I have views on this subject which are pretty well known and they haven’t changed.
QUESTION:
Back on national security is the Government looking for single citizens, if I can put it that way, to suspend the rights if not stripping them of that citizenship?
PRIME MINISTER:
Well, one thing that we will never do is render people stateless. One thing that we will never do is anything that challenges the rule of law which is at the heart of our culture, our civilisation, our freedom. So, we will never do anything that is in anyway contrary to the rule of law and you will note that the legislation currently before the Parliament to strip the citizenship from terrorists who are dual nationals obviously includes provision for judicial review.
So, I just want to make that clear. We are a society, a country, a government that respects the rule of law – always have, always will – but we are facing an unprecedented situation, an absolutely unprecedented situation. About half of the Australians who have gone abroad to fight with the death cult are dual nationals but about half of them have only Australian citizenship. The legislation that is before the Parliament now obviously gives us a way of now saying to dual nationals, “you are never coming back.” We need ways of dealing with those who are not dual nationals and, as I said, just as going abroad to fight with the death cult is the modern form of treason, perhaps to deal with it we need the modern form of banishment.
Thank you.
[ends]