Australian PM says terror laws don't target Muslims

CANBERRA - Australian Prime Minister John Howard says new laws to be discussed at a national security summit will not target Muslims.

Mr Howard will seek the agreement of state and territory leaders in Canberra tomorrow on tough new anti-terror powers, including the detention of terrorist suspects for up to 14 days and a new crime of inciting violence against the community.

Hundreds of Muslims and civil libertarians gathered in Sydney yesterday to call for an end to the government's grab for greater anti-terrorism powers.

They accused Mr Howard of taking Australia down the path of a police state and treating Muslims differently to the rest of the community.

But Mr Howard said today the government's proposals did not target Muslims and would protect civil rights.

"I'm careful to keep all of them in the balance but there's nothing in these laws that target the Muslim community," Mr Howard told ABC Radio.

"There is no foundation in anything I have said or anything anybody has said to justify that complaint.

"They are completely and utterly misguided and wrong and they are listening to people who haven't read what I have said."

Mr Howard said the laws were designed to protect the Australian community.

"In those circumstances nobody should see it as an attack on them, but we should equally understand we are not dealing with a conventional challenge," he said.

"We are dealing with a challenge the like of which our societies haven't seen before and we therefore need some laws of unprecedented toughness."

Mr Howard said he did not believe Queensland Premier Peter Beattie's idea of a public interest monitor overseeing the laws was practical.

He said a judge would provide a check on the use of control orders on terror suspects.

The use of preventative detention for up to 14 days would also be subject to judicial review and the ombudsman, he said.

Mr Howard said while he believed there was a strong case for a review mechanism, he did not believe a sunset clause was warranted.

"We don't know when the threat is going to disappear -- it's a bit unrealistic," he said.

He said the state and territory leaders had to date adopted a positive attitude to the talks.

"I certainly want to sit down and talk to them and I will listen carefully to everything that they have to put forward," Mr Howard said.

"But at the end of the day the public wants the governments of Australia -- the federal government working with the state governments -- to reach agreement."

Dr Gallop and Mr Bracks later told ABC Radio they were reluctant to support Mr Beattie's plan for a public interest monitor.

"I'll wait to take advice from Peter on that before I give it a tick," Dr Gallop said.

Mr Bracks said judicial processes should be enough.

"I don't think (the public interest monitor) will do any more than the existing courts can do and the functions they perform," he said.

Mr Bracks said he was insisting on a sunset clause for the proposed new laws.

"A sunset clause is critical. There's no reason why we can't have one," he said.

"A pause to examine whether these laws are working effectively, I think it's a good principle."

Both premiers said they were open to the plan for 12 month control orders to allow the monitoring of suspects who have never been charged.

But Dr Gallop said he would take some convincing on the proposal to detain terrorist suspects without charge for up to two weeks - up from the current 48 hours.
"The Commonwealth's going to have to have some good arguments on that question," he said.

"That issue at the moment, I think, does need a lot of clarification and a lot of explanation before I could tick off on it."

Mr Bracks said he may support the plan, but only if it was subject to strict judicial oversight -- including access to legal representation during the detention period.

- AAP