The Federal Government’s proposal to strip Australian citizenship from dual citizens who engage in a wide range of terrorist related actions  is a new – and controversial – addition to its already extensive counterterrorism measures. The loss of citizenship can occur without a person being found guilty by a court.  The Intelligence and Security Committee will  report onits inquiry into the bill next month and our parliamentarians will have to decide whether to make it law.

A recent poll found that three-quarters of voters support the stripping of citizenship from sole Australian nationals who take part in terrorist activities. This may encourage the Government to act on its more extreme proposal to extend citizenship-stripping to those who have nowhere else to go.

Should loss of citizenship be on the table? Is citizenship-stripping a way to protect ourselves or export our problems? And why does someone else’s Australian passport make me less safe?  

NSWCCL is bringing together an expert panel to discuss the implications of the bill and talk these questions over.  Join former Independent National Security Legislation Monitor, Bret Walker SC, Senior Fellow at the Institute of Public Affairs, Chris Berg, and Lydia Shelly, a solicitor, committee member of the NSWCCL and one of the founders of the Islamophobia Register, for a lively discussion about citizenship, counterterrorism, and what it means to be Australian.

(Unfortunately Dr Anne Aly will no longer be speaking at our forum due to a conflict in her schedule).