Cash wasted on anti-terror laws: Trad
Chances of a terrorist attack in Australia are being exaggerated and the hundreds of millions the government will spend beefing up and enforcing counter-terrorism measures could be better spent on schools and hospitals, an Islamic leader says.
Under the government's plan investigative agencies will be given $630 million to implement tough new laws to deal with Australians who fight, train with or support terrorist groups overseas.
Conflict areas will be blacklisted and people who travel to these zones will have to prove they went for humanitarian or family reasons, not to fight.
Islamic Friendship Association of Australia spokesman Keysar Trad said the proposals were concerning.
"We're wasting $630 million of taxpayer money on something that with the right consultation can cost a lot less," he told AAP on Tuesday night.
"That money can be better spent on education or health care or many other things that Australian society needs."
Reversing the onus of proof is unfair and travellers should always be entitled to the presumption of innocence, Mr Trad said.
"People go to (these areas) sometimes, even during the middle of a conflict, they go there not to participate in the conflict but to provide support to their elderly relatives," he said.
"People should be able to do that. The presumption of innocence should always be there."
For the laws to be fair they must be applied to everyone, Mr Trad said.
"Whether these people go to fight with another country's military service or whether they go and fight for a militia or a group ... these types of laws have to embrace everybody," he said.
Intelligence officials say the conflicts in Syria and Iraq have drawn about 10,000 fighters from around the world.
Fifteen of the estimated 60 Australians fighting in Syria or Iraq have been killed.
The government has cancelled the passports of 51 people it suspected of planning to join the conflicts.
