ASIO power plea to tackle teen terrorists

ASIO seeks powers to coercively question teens as growing numbers of young people ‘ensnared in streams of hate’.

ASIO director-general Mike Burgess. Picture: Sean Davey

ASIO says it needs powers to ­coercively question 14 and 15-year-olds because of the growing numbers of young people being “ensnared in the streams of hate” being pumped on to the internet by “extremists of every ideology”.

In a submission to parliament’s intelligence and security committee seeking to justify the new powers, ASIO says terrorists are being radicalised at a younger age by Islamist and far-right groups.

It says one of the seven terrorist attacks conducted in Australia since 2014 was carried out by a school-age person, and three disrupted plots have involved ­minors.

ASIO’s submission does not detail any cases involving 14-year-old terrorist offenders, but points to the murder of unarmed NSW police worker Curtis Cheng by a 15-year-old terrorist, Farhad Khalil Mohammad Jabar.

ASIO is also seeking the ­ability to plant tracking devices on terror and espionage targets without having to obtain a warrant, saying the measure would allow it to respond more quickly to security threats, and protect officers from physical threats.

ASIO also wants to use so-called “slap and track” devices with only internal approval, which would bring ASIO’s powers into line with those of the AFP and state and territory police.

Under the proposed changes, the minimum age at which children can be forcibly questioned would fall from 16 to 14 years. ­Minors could only be questioned in the presence of a lawyer. It says the proposed lowering of the compulsory questioning age “reflects a shift in the security environment since 2003 that has seen younger and younger people involved in extremist activities”.

“ASIO is particularly concerned that vulnerable and ­impressionable young people will continue to be at risk of being ensnared in the streams of hate being spread across the internet by extremists of every ideology,” ASIO says in its submission.

The Law Council of Australia has warned the proposed powers are “highly extraordinary and unusual”, with no equivalent in any other member country of the Five Eyes intelligence network.

“The idea of ASIO being able to question children as young as 14 or having the power to slip a ‘non-intrusive’ tracking device into, for example, an open handbag, without so much as a warrant does not sit well with many Australians,” council president Pauline Wright said.

However, ASIO argues the security frameworks of different countries are not comparable, and that the proposed legislation would repeal more intrusive detention powers, replacing them with a “less intrusive compulsory questioning framework”.

It’s understood ASIO believes the coronavirus lockdown may have increased opportunities for extremists to target young people because of longer hours being spent online.

Its submission says online propaganda disseminated by Islamic State “set the standard among Islamist extremists”.

Right-wing extremists were also producing “internet-savvy, sophisticated messaging” aimed at ensnaring young minds.