Anthony Byrne (politician)

Joint Committee on Intelligence and Security

Byrne has served on the Parliamentary Joint Committee on Intelligence and Security since 2005 and has been described as 'one of the best brains on intelligence and national security' in the Australian parliament.^[8] As chair of PJCIS in 2013, Byrne along with Deputy Chair Philip Ruddock, warned of the effect of the government's efficiency dividend on the operations of Australia's intelligence and security agencies after tabling a PJCIS report^[9] in May 2013 covering the administration and finances of Australia's six intelligence and security agencies in 2010-2011.^[10] Byrne likened the cuts to the US austerity measures which prompted warnings from US intelligence agencies, in the wake of the Boston bombings, that their ability to combat terrorism was at risk.^[11] Of the government's efficiency dividend, Byrne said "I find it frankly astonishing that these agencies would have been effectively sequestered from funding to perform their tasks" and that cuts to the agencies' funding was "disgraceful and it should be addressed."^[12]

Nine months after PJCIS's release of its Report of the Inquiry into Potential Reforms of Australia's National Security Legislation^[13] authored under Byrne's term as Chair, the Daily Telegraph reported that the Abbott Cabinet had agreed to adopt almost all of the 41 recommendations included in the report in the face of heightened security fears over Australians engaged in fighting with terrorist groups overseas. Byrne went on the record as criticising the Abbott Government's delay in implementing the report's recommendations as "unconscionable", saying that legislation should have been brought before parliament much earlier.^[14]

Two days after the biggest counter-terrorism operation ever conducted in Australia's history, Byrne was interviewed by Laura Jayes on Sky News' Saturday Agenda program where he said that the raids were clear evidence to the Australian public of the link between terrorism in Australian and IS in the Middle East, stating that Australian authorities had been concerned for sometime about the potential for an Islamic State-inspired planned mass-terror incident on Australian soil.^[15] The following week, Byrne appeared on Sunrise with David Koch to say that the terror threat in Australia was real as evidenced by the raids the previous week, and to praise the law enforcement agencies involved in the operation.^[16] On the same day, Byrne was interviewed by the ABC's political correspondent Sabra Lane in a segment for 7.30 on a fatwa issued by Islamic State to kill Australians, and potential for the Abbott Government to commit Australia to an international coalition to distrupt and degrade ISIL's operations inside Iraq in the wake of the first U.S.-led airstrikes in Syria.^[17] The next day, radicalised teenager Abdul Numan Haider attempted to kill two counter-terrorism officers outside the Endeavour Hills Police Station in Byrne's electorate of Holt. In Canberra at the time, Byrne was interviewed on national television where he thanked the officers involved in the incident and urged calm and for Australians to continue to go about their lives in their usual fashion, else they give in to terror.^[18]

In the wake of the Endeavour Hills incident, Byrne was interviewed by Leigh Sales on 7.30 where he called on his constituency, and the wider national community, to band together, rather than allow suspicion to pull them apart as ISIS had intended.^[19] Presciently, Byrne was the first Australian politician of significant standing to warn of a potentially imminent terror attack by Islamic extremists on Australian soil when he drew attention to the rise of IS and the radicalisation of young Australians.^[20]

Prior to changes being introduced, Byrne had been consistently critical of PJCIS's lack of a remit over the Australian Federal Police, citing the lack of such a thing as a significant flaw in the oversight powers of the committee.^[21] Byrne argued that as the intelligence and law enforcement agencies had been advising the government of the need for them to receive greater powers which may have had the potential to impinge on civil liberties and democratic freedoms, that the PJCIS should be given the appropriate oversight capacity to make inquiries on the behalf of the public in order for them to have confidence in the use of additional powers for these agencies.^[22]

After the PJCIS handed down its 36 recommendations on the government's controversial foreign fighter's legislation,^[23] Byrne appeared on Sky News' The Dalley Edition to clarify the committee's position on the intrusiveness of some aspects of the legislation such as provisions for the lowering of the thresholds for agencies to access preventative detention orders, control orders, and questioning and detention powers, arguing that they needed to be counterbalanced by safeguards, most important of which would be sunset clauses.^[22]

Byrne also gave an interview to journalist David Speers in the aftermath of the Lindt Cafe Siege where he called for an independent judicial inquiry into the events leading up to and during the crisis which would have coercive and subpoena powers to summons any public official or minister to give evidence on the incident in order to regain public confidence in authorities.^[24]

In the wake of another terror attack on police in 2015, Byrne questioned why national leaders were reaching out to the Islamic community but weren't doing the same with police; arguing for greater attention to be given to police facing the ongoing threat of street-side executions.^[25] After Muslim constituents with relatives affected by fighting in the Middle East had asked him why the coalition was taking so long to defeat IS, with an absence of a substantial victory and the appearance that the conflict was being lost despite claims that the coalition were gaining some advantages over IS, Byrne told ABC News that Australia required "a complete, cohesive, clear strategy, a cogent strategy..with some form of timeframe to how to deal with these people."^[26]

During the 2016 federal election, Byrne began distributing flyers promoting law-and-order and an anti-terrorism platform; the first politician of the campaign to inject law-and-order into the national debate. Byrne said that he was prompted to distribute the flyers after many people in his electorate were too afraid to open their doors and talk to him while he was door-knocking due to recent gang activity and fear of violent Ice users, something which Byrne call "completely unacceptable" and promised that, if re-elected, one of his first orders of business would be to work with authorities to crush the Apex gang in his region and to ensure ice manufacturers and dealers are put out of business.^[27]

After the election, Crikey reported that Byrne was likely to be departing PJCIS,^[28] however later the same publication reported that Byrne would be remaining on the Committee after being prevailed on to reverse his decision to leave.^[29]

Rudd-Gillard Leadership Contest

During the Rudd-Gillard years, Byrne was described as 'a key Rudd backer'^[30] and Rudd's 'loyal lieutenant'.^[31] On the day of Rudd's February 2012 challenge for the leadership of the Labor Party against Julia Gillard, the Herald Sun published an article by Bryne in which he detailed his reasons for supporting Kevin Rudd to be re-installed as Prime Minister.^[32] In a show of solidarity within the Federal Parliamentary Labor Party, Byrne appeared alongside fellow Labor MP Richard Marles in an interview on the Australian breakfast television program Sunrise following Rudd's unsuccessful challenge against Gillard to call for an end to divisions within the Labor Caucus and a renewed concentration on governing the country.^[33]

Taxi & Hire Car Industry

Byrne has been named as 'one of the few MPs at either federal or state level to have voiced support for licence-holders.'^[34] At a taxi rally in Narre Warren on 18 October 2015, attended by more than 300 people, Byrne heavily criticised the then technically illegal and unregulated ride-sharing service for undercutting the taxi industry.^[35] Byrne was reported to have said that "behind every taxi is a family", and that "In contrast to taxi and hire car operators, Uber has not been complying with a number of State and Federal government laws, regulations and taxes." Byrne rejected the idea that Uber provided a ride-sharing service and argued the company needed to be governed by the same rules as taxis. Additionally, Byrne said that "If Uber does become properly regulated and the value of taxi licences and plates are reduced then the taxi industry should be appropriately compensated." Concluding, Byrne said that "Our community needs to understand that behind every taxi is a family. We can't just stand by and wait as an industry that employs nearly 200,000 people goes to the wall."