[JURIST] An Australian parliamentarian Monday introduced a bill [text] in the Parliament of Australia [official website] that would call for the appointment of an independent reviewer to evaluate Australia's counterterrorism laws. Petro Georgiou [official profile] of the Liberal Party [party website] noted that more than 30 counterterrorism measures have been introduced in Australia [JURIST news archive] in the wake of Sept. 11, 2001, and said that an independent reviewer will help safeguard civil liberties. Australian Attorney-General Robert McClelland [official website] has not yet had an opportunity to review the proposed legislation, a spokesperson said. Australia's ABC News has more.

Australia's current anti-terror laws [ANS materials], including the Anti-Terrorism Act 2005 [JURIST document; JURIST report], give police greater search and seizure powers and also allow them to detain terror suspects for up to two weeks without charge.