Tony Abbott says authorities can't keep a 24-hour watch on returned jihadis but insists security agencies are doing everything possible to keep Australia safe.
The prime minister's comments come amid raised concerns about the danger posed by returned Australian jihadis after reports that one of the suspected gunman responsible for the Paris massacre had previously been convicted of attempting to join al-Qaeda in Iraq.
Mr Abbott was asked about reports that more than 20 returned Australian jihadis, who came back before parliament passed tough new foreign fighter laws, were free to roam the streets and escape prosecution.
"As for those that have gone and come back prior to these new laws, I do want to assure everyone that our police and security agencies are keeping them all under reasonable supervision," he told Macquarie Radio on Friday.
"I can't say that they're all under 24-hour watch but certainly we are doing everything we humanly can to ensure that anyone who is a menace to our safety is being monitored."
Mr Abbott stressed Australia would remain a free and open society while it fights the threat of extremism.
"What we can never do is sacrifice our values in the quest to defend them," he said.
While he dismissed a suggestion that Australians who fight with terrorists should have their citizenship revoked, Mr Abbott said the Paris attack was a reminder that laws should be tough enough to punish people who join extremist groups.
"The people who leave our country to fight with these terrorist groups, they come back brutalised and militarised and much more able to do us harm," he said.
"That's why it's absolutely critical that we have all the legal authority to put them away for a very, very long time indeed."
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