Terror laws to be strengthened in Australia's New South Wales state

New laws to be introduced on Wednesday by the New South Wales (NSW) state government will allow police to detain and question terror suspects for up to 14 days.

Terror suspects as young as 14 could also be detained and questioned for up to two weeks under the new laws.

The bill which will be introduced into NSW state Parliament on Wednesday afternoon, would allow NSW state police officers to detain suspects for an increased amount of time if "the detention will substantially assist in responding to or preventing a terrorist attack".

NSW state premier Mike Baird said the government must do everything possible to protect the community from terrorist threats.

"These new powers do exactly that, by giving our police the ability to properly investigate terrorist plots," Baird said.

NSW police minister Troy Grant said the changes have the strong support of police, who were concerned that existing laws prohibited questioning under NSW preventative detention orders of up to 14 days.

"The terrorist threat has become more fast-moving and unpredictable and we need to have the powers to respond quickly and effectively," Grant said.

The NSW state government noted the bill is modelled on a similar UK scheme that allows a court to impose up to 14 days detention with questioning.

Source: XINHUA