Foreign interference ‘threat’ to by-elections, says Christian Porter

Christian Porter will today demand urgent passage of two separate espionage and foreign-interference bills.

Attorney-General Christian Porter. Picture: John Feder

Attorney-General Christian Porter will today demand urgent passage of two separate espionage and foreign-interference bills following intelligence advice of an accelerated escalation in hostile foreign activity over the past 12 months and the potential for foreign disruption in the five federal by-elections next month.

The claims of potential interference in the by-elections will today lead the Turnbull government to demand Labor back the passage of both pieces of legislation before parliament rises at the end of the month, in a move that will blindside Bill Shorten on national security.

The parliamentary joint committee on intelligence and security, in an unprecedented 400-page report containing 60 recommendations, yesterday gave the green light to the first bill, the Espionage and Foreign Interference Bill, which will usher in unprecedented secrecy laws and significant new powers for security agencies to prosecute spies and agents of foreign powers.

Late last night, Mr Porter ­demanded the PJCIS report ­immediately on the second bill, the Foreign Influence and Transparency Scheme (FITS) Bill, after referring a second set of key amendments that the government claims will expose malevolent foreign entities and agencies operating in Australia but address concerns over press freedom and civil liberties.

Mr Porter told The Australian that both bills were necessary to address what he claimed was a current threat before the July 28 by-­elections and needed to be passed in the next sitting of parliament. It will be the last chance ­before the by-elections to have in place laws that address both ­covert foreign disruption as well as attempts by foreign agents to influence the outcome of elections or interfere with Australia’s democratic process.

While ASIO had raised a red flag on political donations before the last election, an intelligence source said that most of the concern about recently increasing ­activity, including covert operations, was activity linked to the Chinese government and at levels not evident at the 2016 federal election.

GRAPHIC: Crackdown on foreign interference and espionage

“The level of activity has increased … the thing is that this activity is designed to interfere with democratic processes … that’s the view formed within government,” Mr Porter said. “We have now something we didn’t plan for and that is in several weeks we will have five critical by-elections.

“Even in the time that it has taken to consider the Espionage and Foreign Interference Bill, the threat environment has changed and become more acute.”

PJCIS chairman Andrew Hastie told The Australian the committee had determined that the current laws were not adequate.

“Unchecked, espionage has the potential to significantly ­reduce Australia’s long-term ­security, and foreign interference could undermine our democracy and threaten the rights and freedoms of our people,” the Liberal MP said. “The committee has therefore accepted that there is a pressing need to strengthen and modernise current espionage and foreign-interference laws. The new laws will also provide law ­enforcement and prosecutors with new tools to respond to the theft of trade secrets on behalf of foreign state actors.

“This type of economic ­espionage has the ­potential to substantially diminish Australia’s economic wellbeing and inter­national competitiveness.”

The committee report received bipartisan support, with Labor deputy chairman Anthony Byrne regarded as instrumental in hastening its release and meeting the government’s demands.

The FITS bill — vigorously ­opposed by media organisations which were at risk of having to ­license staff if the companies were foreign owned — will now be more narrowly defined to cover individuals, organisations and companies that have direct links to foreign governments. It will capture any Australian or foreign company that has 15 per cent of shares on issue held by an individual or company with links to a foreign power, or 20 per cent of board directors with links to foreign governments.

A source in the intelligence community said this was being ­referred to as the “China clause” and was clearly designed to target primarily people and entities operating in Australia with clear links to the Communist Party of China.

The amended bill will also ­include new transparency provisions that will allow the secretary of the Attorney-General’s Department to declare companies, organisations or individuals who have hidden links to foreign governments and are involved in political activity.

The move to fast-track passage of both sets of laws will put political pressure on the Opposition Leader ahead of the by-elections. The government is seeking to tie Labor to its pro-China former foreign minister Bob Carr in a reminder of the Sam Dastyari affair that triggered public exposure of Chinese political influence in Australia.

The PJCIS report tabled yesterday follows a seven-month inquiry into both bills. The report produced 60 recommendations, ­almost double the number of any other piece of national security legislation. Of the 60 recommendations, 20 were regarded as substantial and 40 minor. The government refused to accept a Labor call for the removal of ­expulsion for dual nationals who were jailed for spying.

However, the majority were ­accepted, including a reduction to the maximum penalties for the proposed new secrecy offences from 15 to seven years’ jail for a federal officer and from 10 to seven years for an “outsider”, which ­includes journalists.

The government has conceded to requiring the consent of the ­attorney-general to any prosecution, a review of secrecy offences in other federal laws and an expanded defence for journalists and ­associated media staff in reporting of sensitive material.

“Given the rapid change in the threat environment, it is the government’s intention to consider the report and recommendations for amendments very quickly and my expectation is that the bill in essentially the form now recommend by the committee should be passed through parliament during the next sitting period later this month,” Mr Porter said.

Opposition legal affairs spokesman Mark Dreyfus said the amendments proposed by the committee had made the Espionage and Foreign Interference Bill more effective. He confirmed that Labor would support the bill, provided the changes set out in the recommendations were agreed to by the government.