Terror arrests show need for laws: Dutton

Three Sydney men have been arrested over an alleged Islamic State-inspired plot to attack a variety of targets in Australia including embassies and court buildings.

The coalition party room meeting in Canberra on Tuesday gave the green light for Mr Dutton to bring new national security laws to parliament this Thursday.

"This is incredibly important because it will be alleged in relation to one of the individuals arrested and charged today that he returned from overseas as an Australian citizen," Mr Dutton told reporters in Canberra.

"This threat is not diminished, it's not going away ... particularly when we've got Australians overseas in a theatre of war being trained by Islamic State or inspired online."

Mr Dutton said the laws would allow authorities "more time to manage individuals".

"When some people come back, it is very difficult to gather the evidence that would be admissible in a court of law in Australia to convict that person beyond reasonable doubt so we need to make sure that we've got every tool available to us to keep Australia safe."

He called on Labor to offer bipartisan support for the bill.

At an inquiry into the laws earlier this year the Law Council of Australia and the Australian Human Rights Commission said it should not be passed in its current form.

"This is a dog's breakfast," Law Council president Arthur Moses said.

The legislation went against two High Court rulings that the minister could not stop citizens from returning to Australia, he said, and it should instead follow the UK model where a court has to make the exclusion order, the Law Council said.

The UK example offered greater transparency and better protections both for the minister and the person affected by the order.

Home Affairs says there are about 100 Australians still actively involved in the Syria and Iraq conflicts who may pose a threat when they return home.

Australian Associated Press