Australian state enhances counter-terrorism powers for police
Mike Baird, Premier for New South Wales (NSW), has unveiled new powers for police dealing with terrorism-related cases. A bill, expected to be introduced to parliament today, contains a clause which gives police the power to detain and question an individual for up to four days if there are “reasonable grounds” to suspect that they have been involved in an act of terrorism in the past 28 days, or is “involved in planning one that could occur in the next 14 days”. Alongside this, the legislation, if passed, will allow law enforcement to detail and question terrorism suspects as young as 14 years old. If a Supreme Court judge agrees, the detention period can be extended to a maximum of two weeks. Commenting on the changes, Baird said: “We have to do everything possible to protect our community from terrorist threats and these new powers do exactly that, by giving our police the ability to properly investigate terrorist plots.”

Police will have the power to detain and question terrorism suspects as young as 14 for up to two weeks without charge under new "investigative detention" laws to be unveiled by NSW Premier Mike Baird.

Under a bill due to be introduced to Parliament on Wednesday, police may detain and question a person for up to four days if there are "reasonable grounds" to suspect they have committed a terrorist act in the past 28 days or is "involved in planning one that could occur in the next 14 days."

NSW Premier Mike Baird flagged new detention powers at last month's COAG meeting. Credit: Alex Ellinghausen

The detention must be reviewed by a senior officer every 12 hours.

The detention period may be extended by a Supreme Court judge in seven-day increments up to the maximum 14 days if it is determined doing so would help respond to or prevent a terrorist attack.