Australia passes law to speed up military terror response News
Australia passes law to speed up military terror response

[JURIST] In anticipation of the upcoming Commonwealth Games [official website] scheduled to start in Melbourne March 15, the Parliament of Australia [official website] has rushed through a bill [PDF text; legislative materials] making domestic deployment of the Australian Defence Force [official website] faster and easier in the event of a terrorist attack. The new legislation authorizes the Australian prime minister, defense minister or attorney general to verbally call out the country's military in the event of a security emergency, freeing them from their former obligation to submit a long written request. The bill also provides more legal protection to soldiers carrying out domestic security duties. Read a Defence Ministry press release. AAP has more.