(MENAFN- The Journal Of Turkish Weekly) Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott is set to introduce to parliament Wednesday a controversial law under which dual nationals suspected of involvement in "terrorism" will be stripped of citizenship.
He told reporters the bill will be introduced "first thing" after it received the endorsement of the coalition party room earlier Tuesday.
The legislation would apply to dual citizens who are "convicted of a specific terrorism-related offence" or suspected of engagement in "specified terrorist-related conduct".
The proposed law had drawn criticism after Abbott announced last month that it would enable the immigration minister to revoke the citizenship of a person "suspected" of terror acts - including alleged support for groups like Daesh. A conviction would have not been necessary, with the decision subject to judicial review.
However, ABC News reported Tuesday that details of the legislation presented to coalition backbenchers showed that the proposal granting the immigration minister the authority to revoke citizenship had been set aside.
The broadcaster cited the new document as confirming that such decisions will be "subject to judicial review", and will be applied to nationals who fought with "a listed terrorist organization overseas".
"So as far as is humanly possible, the forfeiture of citizenship by terrorists who are dual nationals happens automatically by action of law," Abbott said Tuesday.
"As Australians, we will never, ever, sacrifice our freedoms, but we will defend them - that's what this legislation is all about," he added, according to the Australian Associated Press.
Before the proposals were discussed in the party room, Foreign Minister Julie Bishop had said they would reinforce section 35 of the Citizenship Act, which stipulates the revocation of citizenship from nationals fighting for a country at war with Australia.
"We will bring it into the contemporary circumstances of people taking up with terrorist organizations that have effectively declared war on Australia and Australians," she told ABC radio.
The development comes during a time when Australia is working to verify whether two of its nationals suspected of fighting with Daesh - Khaled Sharrouf and Mohamed Elomar - were killed in an air strike on the northern Iraqi city of Mosul.
Both had become notorious after photographs on social media showed them holding severed heads, while Sharrouf had released a photo last August of his 7-year-old son also lifting up a head.
Bishop addressed the possibility of repatriating the family of Sharrouf - who has three young sons and two teenage daughters with wife Tara Nettleton - but only after his death has been confirmed.
She said the possibility would "depend very much on the circumstances and the advice we receive form our intelligence agencies at the time".
Late last month, Fairfax Media had reported that Nettleton's family was attempting to help her and her children return to Sydney, citing a senior police source who said intelligence suggested that poor living conditions in Syria may be a motivator.
Since late 2014, Australia has been undertaking measures to prevent nationals from joining groups fighting in the Middle East. The country has banned its citizens from traveling to Mosul and Syria's Raqqa province - unless they have a "legitimate purpose" for being there.
Civil rights groups have expressed concerns that the measure places the burden of proof on an individual to show they entered the prohibited area for such purposes - which include humanitarian aid, journalism or family visits.
David Leyonhjelm, Liberal Democrat senator for New South Wales, had earlier criticized the "foreign fighters" legislation, telling Anadolu Agency that it "may well be the most shocking assault on civil liberties in Australia's history".
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