Independent senator Nick Xenophon has called for a fresh review of the actions of the Australian federal police in tipping off Indonesian authorities about the Bali Nine drug-smuggling syndicate, which has culminated in the execution of two Australian citizens.
Two other politicians – Clive Palmer and Cathy McGowan – also announced they would present legislation to parliament to outlaw information-sharing that could lead to the death penalty being applied in foreign countries.
The proposals follow Indonesia’s decision to proceed with the firing-squad execution of Myuran Sukumaran and Andrew Chan on Wednesday, despite repeated appeals for clemency by the Australian government.
The prime minister, Tony Abbott, decided to withdraw Australia’s ambassador to Jakarta and to freeze ministerial visits in protest, but the executions have prompted calls from some politicians for renewed scrutiny of the AFP’s conduct in 2005.
The AFP provided information that resulted in the arrest of the so-called Bali Nine group before their departure from Indonesia to Australia with heroin. AFP officials have previously argued they were operating within protocols in place at the time, but conceded they were aware that the tip-off could lead to charges punishable with the death penalty.
It is understood the AFP plans to comment in more detail to defend its actions, but will not do so on Wednesday out of respect for the families.
Xenophon said he would write on Wednesday to parliament’s joint standing committee on foreign affairs to ask it to look at the matter.
He indicated he would ask questions in Senate estimates hearings about “the degree of AFP cooperation with the Indonesian authorities that apparently sealed the fate of these two young men”.
“This is not about recriminations,” Xenophon told the ABC. “It is about making sure that this never, ever happens again.”
He told Guardian Australia: “I understand and appreciate the work the AFP does, but I understand that within the AFP itself – whatever is said publicly – there is extreme unease about how this unfolded. Two men are dead and that needs honest scrutiny.”
Palmer, meanwhile, said all Australian politicians should work together “to ensure something like this never happens again”.
The leader of the Palmer United party released the draft of a private member’s bill he planned to present to parliament to address the issue.
It would create a new offence for public officials and former public officials “who disclose information resulting in a person being tried, investigated, prosecuted or punished for an offence that carries the death penalty in a foreign country”.
An official found guilty of such a disclosure could face a jail term of up to 15 years, with a mandatory minimum sentence of one year.
The offence would not apply to all disclosures. There would be an exception “if the foreign death penalty offence is constituted by conduct that involves a terrorist act or act of violence that causes death or endangers life”.
“Australian families need to know that the Australian federal police won’t put Australian citizens in this position again,” Palmer said.
McGowan, who intends to second Palmer’s motion, said it was important that Australians were not complicit in capital punishment.
“I think this bill will open up the discussion that we can take political action around it,” she said. “We’re bringing our ambassador home but we need to have a discussion around the other parts of the system.”
Policies surrounding information sharing were tightened in 2009.
Current AFP guidelines allow cooperation with foreign law enforcement agencies before someone is charged with offences that could lead to the death penalty, but senior managers must weigh up factors before approving such contact.
The criteria include the seriousness of the suspected criminal activity, the reliability of the information, the age and personal circumstances of the person involved, Australia’s interest in securing cooperation from overseas agencies, and the risk of the death penalty being imposed.
However, ministerial approval is required for the sharing of information after someone has been detained, arrested, charged or convicted of an offence that carries the death penalty.
The leader of the Greens, Christine Milne, called for a “full, independent investigation” into the information sharing, saying the role of the federal police in the case should not be forgotten.
“Those men should have been arrested in Australia, not Indonesia, to protect them from a punishment the entire parliament condemns,” she said.
Milne said Australia should cease collaborating with Indonesian drug authorities until the country stopped executing drug smugglers of any nationality.
The opposition leader, Bill Shorten, said it was legitimate to ask whether the guidelines should be tightened further, but this was not the appropriate day for such discussions.
The foreign affairs minister, Julie Bishop, said the AFP’s involvement “was reviewed a number of years ago and changes were made”.
“We are satisfied that the changes that are in place were appropriate but I don’t believe today is the time to look for recriminations,” she said.
“Now is a time to be thinking of the Chan and Sukumaran families, to spare a thought for what they are going through today and to provide them with all the support and assistance that we can.”
When pressed on whether future law enforcement cooperation would be conditional on the death penalty not applying, Bishop said: “After the federal police reviewed its operations in relation to this matter, guidelines are in place and we’re satisfied with those guidelines.”
Brisbane barrister Bob Myers, whose appeal to the AFP on behalf of Scott Rush’s family in 2005 that he be apprehended before leaving Australia was ignored, said the government needed to “recognise, acknowledge and condemn” the agency’s actions.
“The PM is saying this is not the time for it. This is the time for it,” Myers said.
“(The AFP) continue to deny even today they’ve got blood on their hands, they continue to deny they did anything wrong, they assert that they would do exactly the same thing today as they did then. All of those are lies.”
The former justice minister Chris Ellison, who was responsible for the AFP at the time of the Bali Nine operation, told Sky News: “I think that to say the Australian federal police has blood on its hands is unfair. I think that in times like these there’s a lot of high emotion which I can understand … but I think that when it comes to law enforcement cool heads should prevail.”
In 2006, senior AFP official Michael Phelan told the ABC he was ultimately responsible for the decision to hand the information to the Indonesian police. He said the exchange of intelligence was important in combating transnational crime.
“The laws of this country prohibit the importation of drugs and it, we see it as our responsibility to ensure that that occurs, and sometimes we have to cooperate with countries overseas that have the death penalty and it’s an unfortunate collateral effect of supplying that information,” Phelan said at the time.
