Australia's Senate passes new tough anti-terror laws

Australia's Senate on Tuesday passed the new tough anti-terrorism laws after three and half hours of debate on more than 100 amendments which would give unprecedented powers to police and spy agencies.

The new laws, which passed the House of Representatives late last month, allow for the first time terror suspects to be detained without charge for up to 14 days as well as controls on their movement and communication for up to 12 months.

They give police tougher stop, search and seizure powers and allow greater use of security cameras.

The sedition provisions of the legislation mean people who incite violence against the government could be jailed for up to seven years.

However, changes to sedition laws would protect the publication of news reports or commentaries about matters of public interest.

The amendments included giving more time for businesses to respond to anti-terror financing checks, enabling courts to consider a summary of grounds when deciding whether to issue the interim control order and greater access to lawyers for those facing preventative detention.

The Commonwealth ombudsman would be given more power to oversee detention, detainees would have greater access to relatives and police would need to satisfy a greater number of grounds to impose limits on who a suspect could contact.

Source: Xinhua