The federal government says it will seek to pass legislation that cracks down on foreign fighters by the end of next week, amid widespread condemnation of a video message from an Australian teenage jihadist.
Prime Minister Tony Abbott on Wednesday confirmed the government had accepted all 37 recommendations of a report by the Joint Parliamentary Committee on Intelligence into the foreign fighters legislation, which makes it a criminal offence to travel to terrorism hot spots designated by the government.
Mr Abbott told the parliament it was hoped the laws would be passed by the end of the current sitting fortnight, which ends next Thursday.
The committee which examined the bill called for shorter sunset periods for new powers and greater oversight of preventative detention orders, control orders and stop search and seizure powers.
The development came as senior political figures joined a chorus of condemnation over an Islamic State propaganda video which features 17-year-old Sydney teen Abdullah Elmir threatening Australia, talking about beheadings and specifically referring to Mr Abbott.
"That video is chilling and it's a reminder of the threat we face by radicalised young people," Liberal MP Josh Frydenberg, the parliamentary secretary to the prime minister, said on Wednesday.
"That is why the government has acted swiftly, but also thoughtfully and in a considered way to introduce new legislation and to resource our intelligence and law enforcement agencies better, so that we can meet this challenge and protect the local community."
Opposition Leader Bill Shorten said the "shocking" video had been made by a confused teenager, led astray to say "remarkably stupid things".
However, Liberal Democrat David Leyonhjelm says the online message does not justify the tougher laws.
"What it demonstrates is that these people we're dealing with are d***heads, absolute d***kheads," Senator Leyonhjelm said.
"These people are not sophisticated criminals, they're easy to catch, we don't need new laws."
Professor Greg Barton, from Monash University's Global Terrorism Research Centre, said Elmir was just one of more than 30 young people, mostly from western Sydney, recruited by wanted terrorist Mohammad Ali Baryalei via the street preaching group Parramatta Street Dawah.
Baryalei is understood to be the most senior Australian in the IS regime and the linchpin in a pipeline sending young men to the battlefields in Syria and Iraq.
Prof Barton said Elmir appeared as a "pawn in the machine" and was probably an easy target.
"He thinks he's the star ... but the reality is, his new friends have got him a one-way ticket," Prof Barton said.
The Australian National Imams Council repeated calls for the government to commit more resources into identifying the root causes of radicalisation.
"It is utterly deplorable for violent extremists to use Islam as a cover for their crimes and atrocities," the Grand Mufti of Australia Dr Ibrahim Abu Mohammad said.
