The Australian Greens will move to strengthen the Commonwealth Government long-promised National Security Monitor to review the operation of Australia's extreme terrorism laws, which commenced debate in the Senate today.

"This office is five years overdue; now we see the Government belatedly introducing a part time chair with two staff from the Prime Minister's Department, a slender budget and sketchy reporting obligations to the Parliament. Surely after all this time we can do better than this," said Australian Greens Spokesman Senator Scott Ludlam.

"The Greens will move amendments to strengthen this office and provide it with an avenue to report to the Parliament so that we don't have to wait for sanitised reports to emerge from the prime Minister's office.

"The Greens want to see this body in place as soon as possible, but it must be truly independent, and it must have teeth," Senator Ludlam concluded.

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