National security is set to dominate federal parliament, as Prime Minister Tony Abbott delivers a "security statement" and the government introduces laws to crack down on home-grown extremists.
Attorney-General George Brandis will introduce a second tranche of anti-terrorism laws on Wednesday, targeting Australians who choose to fight with or support terrorist groups overseas.
He will also lead a debate starting on Monday about expanding the powers of the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation (ASIO).
"We expect this legislation, that is the agency powers legislation, to be through the parliament within the next sitting fortnight and we expect the foreign fighters legislation ... to be through the parliament in coming weeks," Senator Brandis said at the weekend.
The anti-terrorism laws have in-principle support from Labor, which says national security should be above politics.
"We want to see the detail of these laws," Labor frontbencher Mark Butler said.
"We'll work through those details very carefully. Talk to the government in a spirit of goodwill and see we were land."
As security is beefed up around Parliament House, Mr Abbott will deliver on Monday what he has described as a "security statement".
Should the Australian military contingent gathering in the United Arab Emirates be sent into Iraq to tackle Islamic State extremists, the prime minister has promised a further statement.
The Labor and coalition party rooms are expected to discuss the issue. Left members of the Labor caucus have voiced concerns about "mission creep" as Australian defence personnel prepare to join a multi-nation operation in Iraq.
Mr Abbott will be present for only the first two days of parliament next week before heading to New York for talks with US President Barack Obama and other leaders on the situation in Iraq and Syria.
Share
