Prime Minister Kevin Rudd promised the white paper more than a year ago in the wake of terror attacks in Mumbai, India, Liberal senator Russell Trood said.

 

Senator Trood, a former academic and now chairman of the Senate's foreign affairs, defence and trade references committee, says there is still no sign of the document.

 

"It is difficult to decipher exactly what informs it, and whether indeed there is one at all," he said in a statement on Wednesday.

 

"Judging by the absurdly long delay ... it seems that Kevin Rudd would have us believe that the threat of terrorism is contained and under control."

 

Last week's bomb attacks in Jakarta were a painful and alarming reminder that terrorism remained central to Australia's national interests, Senator Trood said.

 

Those attacks underscored the pressing need for release of the white paper to reassure Australians that the government was focused on protecting citizens at home and abroad.

 

"The government must stop acting as if a careful, effective and well-resourced campaign to counter regional terrorism will miraculously develop itself."

 

Attorney-General Robert McClelland has foreshadowed the release of a discussion paper on reform to national terrorism laws in the next couple of weeks.

 

In a speech to the Australian Strategic Policy Institute on Tuesday, he said a national approach to countering extremism would form an integral part of the national counter-terrorism strategy.

 

As a starting point, the government had identified key areas for work.

 

They involved identifying and disrupting violent extremists, identifying at-risk groups and individuals and supporting them to resist extremism, maintaining social cohesion and resilience of communities and using effective communications to challenge violent extremist messages and support alternatives.

 

The government remained committed to ensuring Australia had an efficient and effective framework in place to support Australia's law enforcement and intelligence agencies in deterring, investigating, apprehending and prosecuting perpetrators of terrorism, Mr McClelland said.