Protecting Australians from Foreign Terrorist Fighters Bill 2026

Senator DAVID POCOCK (Australian Capital Territory—Independent ACT Whip) (09:49): I rise in opposition to the Protecting Australians from Foreign Terrorist Fighters Bill 2026, but I do support the right of senators in this place to put forward policy ideas, to have their ideas examined and to have experts in the community contribute to their thinking. I'm concerned that this was not the case here.

There is a real issue for debate here. How do we, as a country, deal with Australians returning after making the decision to travel to and in some cases support terrorist organisations? It's a nuanced issue, one where reasonable minds can reach different conclusions.

As I said, I'm concerned that debate over what One Nation has put forward has been unjustifiably curtailed. There were only two weeks for submissions to this bill, which resulted in just 13 submissions—just five from named individuals or associations. There were no public hearings.

There was no justification for preventing a more detailed interrogation of the bill. I think we, as elected representatives, should be able to engage in good faith on policy ideas and then make our own minds up on behalf of our states and territories as to where we decide to land and then vote. The evidence from Associate Professor Danielle Ireland-Piper of the National Security College at the ANU raised several concerns with the bill.

Senator Duniam has raised many of these, and I'll not repeat them in detail in my contribution. In short, real concerns are raised around vague language around the phrase 'protect the Australian community' and what behaviours or concerns would constitute a declaration and application to the court for a foreign terrorist fighter exclusion order. These in themselves are fatal to the bill.

Concerns were also raised about constitutionality. These are concerns that need to be taken seriously, although we have seen a number of bills supported by the major parties which have been challenged and defeated in the High Court. I think that's something to consider.

This is quite aside from some of the issues around subverting our own criminal justice system and potentially dividing our community, pitting Australians against each other, and I want to be clear that I call those out. I do not support this bill—I will vote against it—but I certainly support the Senate in ensuring that all parties and independent senators have an opportunity for their policy ideas to be properly scrutinised.