Excerpt:
Australian Security Intelligence Organisation boss David Irvine will on Wednesday hit back at suggestions that Muslim leaders are not doing enough to counter extremism in their communities, saying they should be thanked rather than criticised.
In a speech to the National Press Club in Canberra, Mr Irvine will also step up his campaign for Australians to get behind new security laws, saying that the threats of both terrorism and espionage, while serious, are manageable if agencies have the necessary powers.
The ASIO director-general of security will argue the current system of checks and balances of intelligence and security powers does not need any serious overhaul – effectively rejecting suggestions that agencies should be forced to get warrants to access communications "metadata".