MPs get tough on terror

By Shaun Inguanzo
SACRIFICING people’s rights to avoid a homeland terrorist attack may be inconvenient but necessary according to Latrobe MP Jason Wood.
But the former Victorian Police Counter Terrorism Coordination Unit senior sergeant said there was no guarantee that the measures would stop an attack from ever occurring in the nation.
Mr Wood and Flinders MP Greg Hunt, who normally represent Casey and Cardinia, last week emerged as federal backbench advocates for stronger counterterrorism measures.
In a statement, the pair highlighted three key security points they believed Australia needed to address urgently, including a central computer database to store all private information including peoples’ names, addresses, purchases of fertiliser and chemicals, and records of aviation and explosive licences.
Other ideas included installing a countrywide networked closed circuit television (CCTV) system to monitor public activity, and an educational program to promote monitoring behaviour rather than ethnicity.
“We are focusing on the notion that we need to observe behaviour rather than concentrate on stereotyping,” Mr Hunt said.
Mr Wood said information on people who purchase fertiliser or bear explosives licenses, was already on file but in individual databases, making it difficult for authorities to access information.
Mr Wood admitted the database and CCTV rollout, if they occur, might lead to restrictions to personal liberties, but said it was more important to prevent attacks on Australian soil.
Mr Hunt said the systems would be established with people’s freedoms in mind.