ABSTRACT
In introducing the first package of Australian counter-terrorism legislation into the Commonwealth Parliament in March 2002, then Commonwealth Attorney-General, Daryl Williams, conceded that the measures contained in this legislation were ‘extraordinary’. However, he noted that ‘so too is the evil at which they are directed’.2
The Commonwealth government’s justification for these measures emphasised the grave harm threatened by terrorism, and the goal of terrorists to disrupt or even destroy government institutions, as reasons why the existing criminal law was insufficient as a legal response to the problem. Quite simply, the state could not afford to wait until terrorist acts have been committed. Instead, terrorist acts must be prevented from occurring in the first place. To this end, counter-terrorism laws were introduced in Australia that, for example, greatly expanded the powers of intelligence organisations to engage in community surveillance,3 enabled people to be detained without charge4 and established broad preparatory and group-based offences.5
