Northern Territory Second Reading Speeches

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AUSTRALIAN CRIME COMMISSION (NORTHERN TERRITORY) BILL 2004

Bills presented and read a first time.

Dr TOYNE (Justice and Attorney-General): Madam Speaker, I move that the bills now be read a second time.

The purpose of these bills is to provide a legal framework for the Australian Crime Commission to operate in the Northern Territory. The history of these bills goes back two decades. In 1984, the National Crime Authority, or NCA as it was known, was established in order to lead a national law enforcement response to organised crime which could overcome the barriers caused by jurisdictional boundaries inherent in the Australian federal system. The NCA was not concerned with street crime. It was concerned with combating serious crime and it provided a structure whereby federal, state and territory police could work together in a seamless manner so that appropriate high level decisions could be made and essential intelligence could be shared.

Commonwealth legislation supporting the NCA and the complementary legislation was enacted in the states and territories. In the Northern Territory, the National Crime Authority (Territory Provisions) Act commenced in 1985. The NCA was appropriate and effective in its time but the world today is very different from the world that existed 20 years ago. Today, it is a world of globalisation, of new technologies, of new drugs; a world of organised crime on a scale previously unimaginable which often involves a complex web of criminal activity crossing over many jurisdictions; a world that is now much more aware of the potential of terrorism following the New York 11 September and Bali bombings. Modern criminals are highly sophisticated and not restrained by borders, so it is essential that there be a cooperative national approach to combat new threats that are increasingly more entrepreneurial and dangerous in nature.

Concerns about tackling the changing nature of crime were discussed at the Australian Government Leaders Summit on Terrorism and Multi-jurisdictional Crime held in April 2002. It was agreed that it was time to strengthen Australia's armour in the fight against serious and organised crime by disbanding the NCA and replacing it with an Australian Crime Commission, the ACC. The rationale for the change was that the capacity of the NCA to expeditiously respond to emerging threats in the criminal environment was hampered by an overly complex legislative regime of references and unwieldy formal consultation requirements between Commonwealth, states and territories. The ACC aims to enhance Australia's law enforcements' capacity to counter serious and organised criminal activities by improving the quality and analysis of criminal intelligence. Being a national body it is able to set clear national and criminal intelligence priorities.

The commission has similar duties, functions and powers to those of the NCA and is built on the successes of the NCA. The ACC brought together three agencies: the Australian Bureau of Criminal Intelligence which was established in 1981 to provide a national criminal intelligence service for law enforcement; the National Crime Authority which was formed in 1984 to provide an effective counter-measure to Australian organised crime; and the Office of Strategic Crime Assessments which was formed in 1994 to provide strategic intelligence advice on emergent criminal issues.

The ACC, which was established by the Commonwealth's Australian Crime Commission Act 2002, commenced on 1 January 2003. The Commonwealth act provides the legislative authority to investigate matters and conduct intelligence operations that have a federal aspect. The Commonwealth act has been replicated in most states, and these bills provide for the operation of the ACC in the Northern Territory. These bills allow intelligence operations and investigations into relevant criminal activity involving Territory offences irrespective of whether those offences have a federal aspect.

The bills recognise that the police network cannot today work alone, and that contemporary policing requires an ability to carry out investigations that go beyond our borders. The definition of 'serious and organised crime' mirrors the offences that the ACC would investigate with the addition of offences involving firearms so that it has the power to investigate the illegal trafficking of firearms and cyber crime to ensure that the ACC can counteract this emerging issue.

These bills establish a board, which comprises the Commissioner of the Federal Police who is also the chair of the board; the police commissioners from the eight states and territories; the Secretary to the Attorney-General's Department; the Chief Executive Officer of the Australian Customs Service; the Chair of the Australian Securities and Investment Commission; the Director-General of Security holding office under the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation Act; and the Chief Executive Officer of the ACC.

The board is a new feature of the ACC, and representation of the Northern Territory Police Commissioner on the board will ensure that the Territory's needs are reflected in the ACC's national intelligence priorities. The board is responsible for determining national criminal intelligence priorities and for overseeing the strategic direction of the ACC. It also authorises the ACC to undertake intelligence operations and investigations, and determine whether an intelligence operation may have access to special coercive powers.

The ACC's coercive powers are the same as those held by the NCA. The power to conduct examinations, which includes powers to produce documents and answer questions, is a powerful investigative tool that is central to the role and function of the ACC. The coercive powers exercised by independent statutory officers, called examiners, and their independence is an important safeguard on the exercise of the powers.

The operation of the board is subject to the scrutiny of a ministerial Inter-governmental Committee, the IGC. The IGC comprises Commonwealth, state and territory police and justice ministers and monitors the work of the board. Whereas the NCA's ability to conduct hearings and use coercive powers were dependent on a ministerial referral and the approval of the IGC, the new legislation enables the ACC to conduct its own investigations and use its coercive powers on the approval of the ACC board. However, as an additional check, the IGC can revoke a determination of the board that allows the use of coercive powers.

These bills create a number of offences such as failing to attend an examination, or failing to answer questions, and failing to produce documents when required to do so by summons. The offences in the bill reflect the offences that were contained in the NCA legislation and complement existing offences in the Commonwealth act. The penalties provide a sufficient deterrent for those who try to obstruct or frustrate the ACC's activities.

These bills repeal the National Crime Authority (Territory Provisions) Act and make consequential amendments to other acts to change references to the NCA to now refer to the ACC. The bills ensure that the Territory has a comprehensive framework in place to permit the ACC to perform its function of combating serious and organised crime.
I believe that all members of this Assembly will agree that this is essential legislation to ensure that we are able to deal with the serious criminal elements in our society. The bills are in the best interest of all Territorians and will ensure that the crime fighting efforts of the ACC complement the efforts of the Northern Territory Police in fighting, reducing and preventing crime and keeping the Territory a safe place to live. I seek bipartisan support for the passage of the bills.

Madam Speaker, I commend the bills to honourable members.

Debate adjourned.

 

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