CRI听力:Australia Target Jihadists

Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott unveiled a suite of counter-terrorism measures on Tuesday granting more powers for authorities to detain and question jihadists who are believed to have fought alongside terrorists in countries like Syria and Iraq.

Our correspondent Wang Xiao has the details.

Reporter:

Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott, Foreign Minister Julie Bishop and Attorney-General George Brandis held a joint press conference on Tuesday and introduced several changes to the national security policies aiming to contain the threats posed by Australian jihadists with combating experience overseas.

Prime Minister Tony Abbott says the threat of home-grown terrorism has not changed and is still as high as it has ever been.

"These are Australian laws, designed to cover Australians, to ensure we are adequately protected against the threat of domestic terrorism, arising from people coming back to the country, who are now terrorist because of the work that they have been doing in places like Syria and Iraq."

Intelligence reports show 150 Australians are working with terrorist organisations abroad. The government says of about 30 Australians once fighting with terrorists in Afghanistan, 25 have returned and two thirds of them have been found involved in domestic terrorism.

Attorney-General George Brandis said under the revised laws, Australians who incite terrorism on ­social media sites would be prosecuted, which is defined as a crime in the amendments to the Crimes Act.

"The definition of terrorism won't be changed, but the things and  provisions to terrorist acts, or involvement in organizations, promoting, encouraging or facilitating terrorist acts will be extinct to organizations or individuals promoting, facilitating or encouraging or otherwise engaged in terrorism."

The new laws will also empower police to arrest any Australian on an illegal trip to regions such as Iraq and Syria that are deemed as a "terrorist zone."

Foreign Minister Julie Bishop will take the responsibility of demarcating the zones. She will also be given a mandate to suspend passports of suspected jihadists at short notice.

"We need the flexibility to be up to act quickly in order to prevent someone from going overseas to partake in fighting, to become a foreign fighter, and all coming back to Australia. We need the capability the flexibility to be respond very quickly."

Facial recognition and biometric screening equipment will be deployed at airports across the country, a project supported by a $600 million counter terrorism fund.

But the reforms have sparked fears about an invasion of privacy since the laws stipulate internet and phone operators keep web-surfing records and call logs of their customers for at least two years.

The Institute of Public Affairs argued that it's a "repressive and expensive" way for the government to monitor its own citizens.

The Prime Minister confirmed the Counter-Terrorism Foreign Fighters Bill will be submitted to the parliament next month.

For CRI, I'm Wang Xiao in Sydney.