Australia’s powers to detain ‘terrorist offenders’ to prevent future crime must be abolished, watchdog says

Preventive detention regime is disproportionate to the threat of terrorism and makes us a ‘harsher society’, report says

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Australia’s “extraordinary” preventive detention regime is disproportionate to the threat of terrorism, has made us a “coarser and harsher society”, and must be abolished, the watchdog overseeing national security laws says.

A damning report from the Independent National Security Legislation Monitor was tabled late Thursday, examining Australia’s use of continuing detention orders (CDOs) on terrorist offenders.

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