Prime Minister Tony Abbott has defended his government's move to bolster anti-terrorism powers for spy agencies, saying he is determined to "err on the side of keeping the community safe".
The Coalition has been criticised by balance of power Liberal Democrat senator David Leyonhjelm that the laws, to be voted on as soon as Monday, allow for certain forms of torture, including drugging, sensory bombardment and sleep deprivation.
Immunities from criminal and civil prosecution contained in the National Security Legislation Amendment Bill are so wide, Senator Leyonhjelm claims, that a security agent can face only discipline for either killing, "seriously injuring" or sexually abusing a detainee.
But Mr Abbott said he was "confident we can manage these things".
"And just at the moment, I am determined to err on the side of keeping our community safe," he said.
He said "the whole point of torture is to cause injury", whether physical or psychological, but the Australian government was resolutely opposed the use of torture.
Attorney-General George Brandis said the enhanced immunities were aimed at allowing ASIO officers to penetrate potential terrorist cells without breaking existing laws while operating undercover.
He said agents sometimes had to join in illegal activities, including conspiracy, to maintain their "credibility" within the group.
Senator Brandis repeated his assertion that the legislation would not open the door to torture and said the suggestion by Senator Leyonhjelm that it did was "arrant nonsense".
Senator Leyonhjelm said Mr Brandis "has not been paying attention" to the detail of the bill, which was likely to pass the Senate with the support of Labor.
Shadow attorney-general Mark Dreyfus was seeking clarification on the latitude for torture allowed in the bill.
The government was expected to tweak the legislation over the weekend in response to recommendations by the bipartisan parliamentary joint committee on intelligence and security. It recommended new oversight powers for the approval and conduct of special intelligence operations.
Senator Leyonhjelm also drew a link between the new legislation and the high-impact terrorist raids in Sydney and Brisbane, saying the federal and state police had turned the dawn raids into a "media circus".
Police filmed the raids and distributed footage to media outlets, as was common practice, while major television channels were also on the scene quickly after the suburban round-up began on Thursday.
"I am enormously suspicious of police action when the media is present," he said. "What was the purpose of having the media there? Was it to make agencies look good or justify this new legislation or was it to reassure the public?
"I think the main aim was to prevent terrorism, I don't dispute that, but I also think there was a secondary aim to show we have a government that acts firmly and decisively and we have legislation coming through to crack down on this threat."
Mr Abbott strongly defended the police actions, invoking Winston Churchill: "I refuse to be impartial as between the fire brigade and the fire.
"I think the vast majority of Australians are absolutely on the side, as they should be, of the police and the security services who are there to keep them safe. The last thing any of us would want to do is to damage our freedoms in order to preserve our freedoms."
