Law Council Australia says proposed ASIO laws like China HK security law , but remains silent about iFlytek , Zhu Minshen and the soon to be admitted Zhu Minshen trained lawyers: Zhu says LCA supported his "very unique" law school from the beginning
ASIO chief Mike Burgess is understandably offended: Appearing before the parliamentary inquiry scrutinising the proposed laws on Friday, the Law Council's David Neal suggested the power to compulsorily question people suspected of planning politically motivated violence could be broader in scope than China's law. Mr Burgess said he was "actually offended by that statement" and "it's an offence to the men and women of my organisation ... some of them who put their lives on the line to protect Australians from serious security threats".
"To suggest that these bills are comparable or in fact our bill is worse, is just beyond the pale – it's completely, completely wrong," he told the inquiry on Friday afternoon.
Mr Burgess said the Hong Kong law made it a terrorism offence to damage public transport, granted life immunity from prosecution to Chinese security agents and could subject peaceful protesters to a term of life imprisonment if they had foreign links.
"That is ridiculous, nothing like this amendment bill," he said.
Meanwhile this which has been reported here has not changed: The Commonwealth Attorney General Christian Porter is obviously having difficulty enforcing foreign influence laws introduced last year. The area of primary concern, according to the SMH (see story below) is influence (and one presumes interference) by Chinese agents.
Meanwhile Mr Porter's fellow senior judicial officers at the NSW Legal Profession Admission Board and the Law Council Australia have remained silent on the matter of the support and approvals granted Zhu Minshen and his Top Education Group Ltd to grant LLB degrees; a "one and only" licence granted a private company.
That Zhu has actively promoted the interests of the Chinese Government ,and that he has used his Top Group to do so is a matter of public record:
That Christian Porter has had to use mass media in a strategy to obtain documents he requires to uphold the law of this land does not speak well of his own colleagues at the NSW LPAB (which is chaired by the Chief Justice NSW Tom Bathurst) and at the Law Council Australia who Zhu says supported his application to issue law degrees.
The nation's domestic spy chief says he is offended by a Law Council of Australia comparison between aspects of a bill giving his organisation expanded questioning powers and China's national security law imposed on Hong Kong.
Australian Security Intelligence Organisation boss Mike Burgess also revealed his agency had active counter-terrorism investigations under way involving children as young as 14 as he argued the case for expanded powers to compulsorily question foreign spies and minors.
ASIO boss Mike Burgess has said the laws are needed to counter foreign interference. CREDIT:ALEX ELLINGHAUSEN
Under the bill, ASIO's compulsory questioning powers would be expanded from just terrorism-related threats to cover espionage, foreign interference and politically motivated violence. The age at which ASIO could compulsorily question a minor would be reduced from 16 to 14 if they were suspected of planning a politically motivated attack.
Appearing before the parliamentary inquiry scrutinising the proposed laws on Friday, the Law Council's David Neal suggested the power to compulsorily question people suspected of planning politically motivated violence could be broader in scope than China's law.
Mr Burgess said he was "actually offended by that statement" and "it's an offence to the men and women of my organisation ... some of them who put their lives on the line to protect Australians from serious security threats".
"To suggest that these bills are comparable or in fact our bill is worse, is just beyond the pale – it's completely, completely wrong," he told the inquiry on Friday afternoon.
Mr Burgess said the Hong Kong law made it a terrorism offence to damage public transport, granted life immunity from prosecution to Chinese security agents and could subject peaceful protesters to a term of life imprisonment if they had foreign links.
"That is ridiculous, nothing like this amendment bill," he said.
Dr Neal, co-chair of the Law Council's national criminal law committee, also warned the proposed powers relating to politically motivated violence could be applied to Black Lives Matter protesters, particularly if they were involved in property damage.
But Mr Burgess said: "We are actually prohibited under our bill from getting involved in protests." "Protests are lawful in this country and we stay away from them. The only time we get involved is if there's acts of violence but protesters are fully supported," he said.
Asked by Opposition legal affairs spokesman Mark Dreyfus whether the bill was broader than the Chinese national security law, Dr Neal said the "answer to that is yes" but he had a "couple of words of caution".
"It doesn't go to the extent of saying anything that is detrimental to the interests of China falls within this framework. It's addressed to different things," he said. "However, we are very concerned that ... agents of ASIO would be entitled to detain compulsorily people for 40 hours to question them about things which are detrimental to the interests of Australia because they've been talking to someone who's classified as a foreign power.
"Keeping in mind that it's not someone who is actually going to do something which is detrimental to it, but simply someone who may have information about that who could be subject to this compulsory questioning and a five-year penalty if they don't co-operate with that process."
Mr Burgess said Australia was facing unprecedented levels of espionage and foreign interference, a terrorism threat that remained at probable and "an escalating threat of violence from extremists such as neo-Nazis who are becoming more organised, committed and capable".
"We are seeing increasing numbers of young Australians involved in onshore terrorism; this is being observed in both Islamic extremism and extreme right-wing circles, and this includes children as young as 13 and 14," he said. "I can confirm today we are currently investigating at ASIO counter-terrorism investigations which involve children as young as 14."
"This threat is amplified by the COVID crisis, with some young Australians being exposed to radicalisation as they've spent time online meeting and engaging with like-minded individuals."
Human rights groups and the Law Council have warned the proposed laws would infringe on children's fundamental rights, saying the bill is in breach of Australia's international obligations.
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