Face of Nation : The latest piece of the Coalition’s national security puzzle will be debated in Federal Parliament this week, as Home Affairs Minister Peter Dutton tries to keep Australians suspected of being involved in terrorism out of the country for up to two years.It is set to spark a political battle between the Coalition and Labor, the Greens and the Senate crossbench over just how far-reaching the Minister’s power should be.
A temporary exclusion order (TEO) would be issued against an Australian citizen if the Home Affairs Minister believes there is a chance it could stop a terrorist attack from happening.
People believed to be supporting a terrorist act or organisation, or training with a terror group, could also be hit with an exclusion order. For example, the Minister may seek to keep someone who has been fighting with the Islamic State group in Syria out of the country.
Australians under the age of 14 cannot be targeted. The Coalition argues the legislation is based on similar powers in the United Kingdom.
In introducing the legislation, Mr Dutton said of the 230 Australians who had travelled to Syria and Iraq to fight, 40 had returned. There are still 80 remaining in those countries.
This legislation would mainly be aimed at people who are not dual citizens, because the Government already has the power to strip foreign nationals of their Australian citizenship in a bid to keep them out of the country.
People who ASIO believes could be involved in inciting politically motivated violence would also be targeted.After two years have lapsed, the person hit with an exclusion order can apply to return to Australia.
The Minister would consider whether they have a right to live in any other country. If they do not, the Minister has to consider what harm they would face if they were blocked from returning to Australia. During the exclusion period, the idea is that authorities would have developed strict controls to monitor them upon their return.
They could include measures such as forcing them to surrender their passport, and being subject to monitoring by police and security agencies.
