Nicola McGarrity

Fourth estate or government lapdog? The role of the Australian media in the counter-terrorism context

The media plays a key role in scrutinising Australias counter-terrorism laws and holding the executive to account for its actions. This article briefly examines why the role of the media is so signiticant in the counter-terrorism context, before turning to examine three factors which have limited the medias effectiveness in performing this role. First, the limited access of the media to information about ongoing investigations and judicial proceedings, Second, the ‘chilling’ effect of the counter-terrorism laws on the freedom of speech. And, finally, the manipulation of the media by the Commonwealth government for political ends.

Coercive questioning and detention by domestic intelligence agencies

In response to the terrorist attacks in Washington and New York, the Commonwealth Parliament bestowed new powers of coercive questioning and detention upon the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation in 2003. These powers were extremely controversial. They raise critical issues about the role of a domestic intelligence agency in a democratic nation and the safeguards that should attach to the exercise of its powers. This article will undertake a country survey to determine if similar powers of coercive questioning and detention have been given to domestic intelligence agencies in four comparable countries—the UK, Canada, the USA, Israel and India. This provides an important insight into whether the response of the Australian Parliament to the threat of terrorism is an exception or rather part of an international trend towards the vesting of coercive questioning and detention powers in domestic intelligence agencies.

The Proscription of Terrorist Organisations in Australia

ABSTRACT Australia has a long history of legislation enabling the proscription of organisations which pose a threat to Australian security. Such laws are by no means a post-9/11 phenomenon. However, the proscription of organisations has assumed a particularly significant place in this country’s legislative response to the threat of terrorism since the terrorist attacks in New York and Washington. The focus of this article is upon the provisions of Division 102 of the Criminal Code Act 1995 (Cth), as it is this regime which has been most commonly relied upon in practice. Whilst the nature of the threat of terrorism faced by Australia has moved through several distinct phases, the basic structure of this regime has remained substantially intact. For that reason, although this article will canvass recent legislative amendments made in response to the foreign terrorist fighters phenomenon specifically, the aim is to provide a holistic picture of the form and substance of the proscription regime in Division 102. This builds upon the pre-existing scholarship in the field by carefully analysing the lessons which can be drawn from the now quite significant number of prosecutions for terrorist organisation offences.

Anti-Terrorism Law and Foreign Terrorist Fighters

This book evaluates whether the new legislation introduced in Australia and the UK is, in fact, necessary, appropriate, and effective at dealing with the foreign fighters phenomenon. It will be of value to academics and students who teach, research, and study the ever-evolving area of anti-terrorism law and counter-terrorism policy and of interest to academic scholars and students in a number of fields including law, comparative politics and government, and terrorism and security studies.