Citizenship stripping laws go under spotlight

The review will hear several groups argue citizenship stripping laws don’t keep Australia safer.

The power to strip the citizenship of dual nationals convicted of terrorism will go under the microscope of Australia’s premier intelligence committee.

Witnesses from the Australian Human Rights Commission, the Department of Home Affairs, Australian Federal Police and the Law Council will give evidence on the laws on Monday.

Constitutional law experts will also appear before the Joint Committee on Intelligence and Security.

It’s important Australian laws are robust enough to adequately deal with “more serious and sophisticated” security threats, the Home Affairs Department says.

The laws were “the strongest possible response to conduct which constitutes repudiation of a person’s allegiance to Australia,” it said in a submission to the inquiry.

More than 160 people have been charged as a result of 87 counter terrorism operations in Australia since September 2014, the federal police said in a submission dated February 14.

“The threat posed by the return to Australia of foreign terrorist fighters endures,” it said.

Independent senator David Pocock expressed some concerns with the laws.

Expelling convicted terrorists could harm other nations and could also hurt the prospect of de-radicalisation, which is more likely if a person is in their country of origin, he said.

“It is my view that persons who are born and raised in Australia are squarely Australia’s responsibility, and must be treated as such,” he said.

“Preventing radicalisation and extremism in our communities is paramount to Australia’s security and must be treated as a priority.”

The Law Council branded the laws “unnecessary, disproportionate and unjustified”.

Stripping citizenship while a person is being convicted and sentenced also impacts their prospects of rehabilitation, the council argued.

Constitutional law expert George Williams also cast doubt on the effectiveness of the law, saying there was no evidence it made Australians safer.

Deporting a terrorist to another nation that couldn’t deal with the threat posed as well as Australia could heighten the risk of terrorism globally, he said.

It also risks a tit-for-tat retaliation from other countries that could move to strip the dual citizenship of Australians, he added.

The new laws passed parliament in December and superseded a regime put in place by the previous coalition government that was eventually ruled invalid by the High Court.

It ruled only the courts could punish criminal guilt, not ministers.

The government says the new laws are legally sound as the minister would need to apply to a judge to have a person’s citizenship stripped rather than make the final decision as was the case under the old regime.

The inquiry is set to report in mid-March.