With an increasing number of Australian citizens traveling to Iraq and Syria to join the Islamic State, the first of a series of security powers requested by the Australian government to combat the terrorist group got passed through parliament on Wednesday, Reuters reported. ISIS's plot to behead a random Australian citizen was foiled by police last month.
Despite facing criticism from journalists, Australia's government is taking every measure to target what authorities claim are the extremist group's members and supporters, with conservative Prime Minister Tony Abbott warning that the balance between freedom and security "may have to shift."
On Wednesday, the lower house passed the legislation with support from the main opposition Labor Party. Under the law, anyone disclosing information about "special intelligence operations" could face a decade in prison.
"It also outlaws copying, transcribing, retaining, or recording intelligence materials, which critics say is a direct response to former damaging leaks by [U.S.] National Security Agency contractor Edward Snowden, and vastly expands the government's power to monitor computers," according to Reuters.
The government made "no apologies" for trying to protect the secrecy of covert intelligence operations, Justice Minister Michael Keenan said.
"This is not, as has been wrongly suggested, about preventing the release of information that might simply embarrass the government of the day or expose it to criticism," he said.
However, saying that journalists could easily be jailed for reporting on national security matters, the Committee to Protect Journalists stated that journalists should be exempted from the legislation.
"This national security bill and other draft legislation raise grave concerns about the direction in which Australia is heading," committee spokesman Bob Dietz said in a statement.
"These bills would seriously hamper reporting in the public interest and we urge lawmakers to add the necessary safeguards to protect journalists and whistleblowers."
Meanwhile, the government will also be cracking down on citizens' communications by granting police and security agencies with metadata. Additionally, Australian citizens will be jailed for traveling to any area overseas once the government has declared it off limits, according to a controversial proposal.
