China law is nothing like ours: spy chief Mike Burgess

There has been a spike in children engaging with extremist content since the outbreak of COVID-19.

Australian Security Intelligence Organisation Director General Mike Burgess. Picture: AAP

ASIO boss Mike Burgess has read the riot act to the Law Council over suggestions that proposed counter-terrorism laws were akin to the Chinese crackdown on Hong Kong.

The nation’s top spy boss blasted evidence given by the Law Council of Australia’s David Neal on Friday and revealed there had been a spike in children engaging with extremist conten­t since the outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic.

Under a bill proposed by the Morrison government, ASIO’s compulsory questioning powers would be expanded from terrorism-related threats to cov­er espionage, foreign interfer­ence and politically motivated violence.

And the age at which ASIO could compulsorily question­ a minor suspected of planning a politically motivated attack would be reduced from 16 to 14.

Probed by opposition legal affairs spokesman Mark Dreyfus whether the legislation was broader than China’s controversial national security law imposed on Hong Kong, Dr Neal responded: “The answer to that is yes.”

He added that 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 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.”

But Mr Burgess blasted the suggestion, declaring Dr Neal was “completely, completely wrong”. “I’m actually offended by that statement and it’s offensive to the men and women of my organisation who put their lives on the line and protect Australians from serious security threats,” he said.

Mr Burgess said the new 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.

“To suggest that these bills are comparable — in fact, that our bill is worse — is just beyond the pale. It’s completely, completely wrong.”

Mr Burgess also revealed that ASIO was investigating “active cases” of youths involved in onshore terrorism. “We are seeing increasing numbers of young Australians involved in onshore terrorism,” he said.

“This is being observed in both the Islamic extremism and extreme right-wing circles.

“And this includes children as young as 13 and 14. This threat is amplified by the corona crisis, with some young Australians being exposed to radicalisation as they spent time online meeting and engaging with like-minded indiv­iduals.”

Mr Burgess assured the committee the compulsory questioning powers would not be used in every case, with ASIO having used the powers sparingly in the past.

“But in a complex and challenging security environment, compulsory questioning may represent the best option ASIO has to gather information about an impending attack or a damaging plot by a foreign intelligence service,” he said.

Dr Neal had also raised concerns that the questioning powers­ could be applied to Black Lives Matter protesters, a claim Mr Burgess also disputed.

“No, absolutely not,” he said. “We are actually prohibited under our bill from getting involved­ in protests.”

Law Council of Australia president Pauline Wright said the council wanted stronger protections for children brought in for questioning.

She also suggested an independent judge should be given the final say on warrants to detain­ someone for questioning.