Tough stand on ASIO powers By Brendan Nicholson, Political Correspondent August 18 2002 The Federal Government has rejected attempts to water down key elements of its new anti-terrorism legislation and has insisted that the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation have the power to detain and interrogate children as young as 14. It also wants intelligence officers to be present during discussions between detainees and their lawyers. The Parliamentary Joint Committee on ASIO, the Australian Secret Intelligence Service and the Defence Signals Directorate, which examined the terrorism bill, the ASIO Legislation Amendment, recommended that the agency should not be able to detain people under 18. The Sunday Age has learnt that the government has also rejected a call for a sunset clause that the committee wanted as a safeguard. The clause would have rendered the legislation invalid after three years. The tough stand comes as the government attempts to defuse opposition demands to justify Australian involvement in any attack by the United States on Iraq. Yesterday, Prime Minister John Howard made public his response to a letter from Opposition Leader Simon Crean asking him to give parliament, during the coming two-week sitting, details of Iraq's weapons programs and to provide evidence of any links between Iraq and Osama bin Laden's al Qaeda terrorist network. Mr Howard said in his reply that a full statement during the next fortnight would be premature because it would encourage the debate in Australia to run ahead of the debate in the US. Mr Howard said he had already indicated that there would be a full parliamentary debate before any military commitment to action against Iraq, but the question remained hypothetical at this stage because the US had not requested assistance and had not decided to commit American forces. Labor could ask for information during question time on any sitting day, he said. Greens senator Bob Brown has already indicated that he will call this week for a Senate inquiry into the implications of a war with Iraq. The controversial ASIO legislation is expected to be debated during the new session of parliament beginning tomorrow. Attorney-General Daryl Williams said the government had accepted the joint committee's recommendations on the legislation in broad terms and was now in consultation with the Opposition. If passed by parliament, the bill would change the rights of every Australian, allowing for people to be detained without evidence that they had done anything wrong. Under the legislation, ASIO would be allowed to obtain a warrant to detain someone, with the consent of the attorney-general, if there were "substantial grounds for believing that the warrant will substantially assist the collection of intelligence that is important in relation to a terrorist offence". The joint committee reviewing the legislation said it had been concerned that children as young as 12 could be detained, strip-searched, questioned and held incommunicado for up to 48 hours or longer, if a subsequent warrant was sought. Under the government's counter-proposals, 14-year-olds could be detained and questioned. The child would be entitled to have a parent present, but contact would be supervised by an ASIO officer. Detainees would have access to a lawyer after 48 hours in custody, but an ASIO officer would be present during all discussions. The lawyers would be vetted by ASIO beforehand and would face up to two years' jail if they revealed details of cases to an unauthorised person. It is believed that, in its response to the committee's report, the government will agree to limit detention by ASIO to seven days unless charges are laid. That compares with the eight hours the police now have to charge someone or let them go. Law Council of Australia president Tony Abbott said he was concerned about the legislation. "(People) want to be able to hear what the lawyer says in confidence and they want to be able to say what they want to say to the lawyer in confidence," he said. He said he was concerned about allowing the detention of children as young as 14. "You have to make a very strong case to be able to detain and interrogate children." http://theage.com.au/articles/2002/08/17/1029114031625.html