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| Madam Speaker, I move that the bill be now read a second time. The purpose of the bill is to amend to the sunset clause with regard to preventative detention orders or prohibited contact orders. I will now provide further detail on the sunset provision of the bill. The objective of this regulatory action is to extend the sunset provision by an additional ten years. The additional ten year period, with an expiry of 30 June 2026, the existing legal provision expires on 28 June 2016. This initiative directly relates to the Northern Territory government’s commitment to a strong community and particularly to building a safe secure and resilient Northern Territory. The extension of the sunset provision provides police with a critical investigative with respect to ensuring public safety. The national terrorism threat level remains at probable, which outlines that credible intelligence assessed by our security agencies, indicate that individuals or groups have developed both the intent and capability to conduct a terrorist attack in Australia. Terrorism poses a significant threat to the community, and the nature of terrorism requires specialist police investigation capability. The ability for police to apply for preventative detention orders and prohibited contact orders when investigating terrorism-related offences is a critical investigative tool, There is the potential for numerous catastrophic risks in the form of terrorist attack should the proposal not be supported, and terrorism suspects are unable to be the subject of preventative detention orders or prohibited contact orders. These risks will be mitigated to a degree by the capability to use preventative detention orders or prohibited contact orders as supported by this proposal. Should the existing provision regarding preventative detention orders and prohibited contact orders expire, then the Northern Territory is left with a critical loss of capability regarding investigation of terrorism offences. All Australian states and territories have similar legislation, with most of these jurisdictions having their sunset provisions related to preventative detention expiring recently. Most jurisdictions have thus extended their provisions in order to maintain this capability, with the remaining jurisdictions currently preparing extension legislation. Madam Speaker, I commend the bill to honourable members and table a copy of the explanatory statement to accompany the bill. Debate adjourned. |