Spies want new questioning, surveillance powers

New powers to allow ASIO agents to question 14-year-olds are required because of the growing number of young people becoming radicalised and plotting extremist acts, the spy agency says.

Rejecting civil libertarians' complaints of an encroaching surveillance state, ASIO also wants to extend its compulsory questioning powers to cover foreign interference and espionage offences under a proposed overhaul.

ASIO officials also say their bid for powers to be able to "slap on" tracking devices to targets' cars or in their bags without a warrant simply brings them into line with the powers enjoyed by police forces.

The bid for new powers comes at a time when ASIO has said foreign interference is at unprecedented levels since the Cold War, the terror threat remains probable and right-wing extremism is on the rise and increasingly organised.

The coronavirus pandemic has also led to an uptick in extremist views online, with rising anti-China and anti-migration sentiment being observed.

The new laws were introduced into Parliament earlier this month and are currently being examined the intelligence and security committee.

The spy agency and the Morrison government have been accused of trying to evade scrutiny by bringing forward the laws while so much focus is on the pandemic.

But the powers were first floated in 2018 by a parliamentary committee review.

The legislation will revamp ASIO's "questioning warrant" powers introduced in 2003 after the September 11 terror attacks.

Provisions to detain a person for up to seven days for questioning - a power ASIO has never used - will be abolished but the police officers will be able to apprehend someone and take them before a a "prescribed authority" such as senior judge, lawyer or president or deputy president of the Administrative Appeals Tribunal for compulsory questioning.

The offences that trigger the use of its questioning powers will be expanded to include foreign intelligence and espionage and politically motivated violence in addition to terrorism. The compulsory questioning powers have been used 16 times since 2003, the last time in 2010.

ASIO would also be able to question suspects as young as 14, down from the current limit of 16. However, this would be subject to a series of safeguards, including that a lawyer and guardian such as parent is present, and the Attorney-General is satisfied the suspect is directly involved in a terror plot.

ASIO has disrupted three major terror plots involving teenagers since May 2015, while one attack, the shooting of NSW Police employee Curtis Cheng, was carried out by a 15-year-old boy.

"The extension of the existing questioning power to those as young as 14 who are the target of a politically motivated violence investigation—with appropriate safeguards—reflects a shift in the security environment since 2003 that has seen younger and younger people involved in extremist activities," ASIO's submission to the committee said.

On foreign interference and espionage, ASIO said it was affecting parts of the Australian community previously untouched by such threats, even during the Cold War.

"Because of the obfuscated nature of espionage operations, identifying those working for or on behalf of hostile foreign intelligence services may require compulsory questioning of individuals assessed to have privileged and unique knowledge," the submission said.

"Unique security intelligence derived from compulsory questioning will provide critical guidance to ASIO counter-espionage investigations and inform Australian government responses to foster an environment more resistant to foreign interference."

A fourth element of the legislation will allow agents to install a tracking device without a warrant. ASIO argues that field operators may not have time to seek approval to attach a "non-intrusive" bug to a car or inside a person's bag if the suspect is moving to a place where it is unsafe for the agent to follow them.