Sophie Mirabella (Indi, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

I rise to speak on the Crimes Legislation Amendment (Child Sex Tourism Offences and Related Measures) Bill 2007 and follow that very passionate speech by the member for Riverina. Child sex tourism, in anyone’s language, is a contemptible practice and it is a particular problem in Third World countries which—perversely—do not have effective laws in place to deal with the problem nor the capacity or inclination to enforce such laws. It should be of no comfort to parents in Australia that paedophiles go overseas to satisfy their perversion—they are only emboldened when they return and, arguably, pose an even greater threat to children on our own shores.

It is no great comfort that a significant number of Australians, I would argue, play a part in the child sex industry overseas, notably in Asia and the Pacific island countries. More than a decade ago, the Crimes Act was strengthened to provide jail terms for Australians who engage in sexual activity with children in foreign countries. Since these changes, a number of prosecutions have been successful; in fact, there have been more than 20 prosecutions, with some 15 convictions. It simply shows that, by strengthening our legislation to deal with these appalling offences, we can more effectively combat the problem. With this in mind, we debate this amendment today.

The bill enhances the Australian government’s ability to deal with child pornography or other child abuse material overseas. Importantly, it creates new child sex offences to augment existing child sex tourism provisions. Furthermore, the legislation ensures that Australians who do commit child sex offences overseas will be prosecuted, even when a foreign country does not have in place specific legislation to deal with this contemptible behaviour or is unwilling to prosecute. Some other components of the bill include amending the child sex tourism offences to add a preparatory offence to capture the behaviour of people preparing to com-mit child sex tourism offences, adding to and introducing new child sex tourism offences to capture the grooming of a young person for the purposes of sex acts overseas, improving the operation of carriage service offences for grooming a child for sex, addressing a current loophole in the legislative framework by forfeiting child abuse or child pornography material used in the commission of child sex offences and repealing part IIIA of the Crimes Act 1914, which deals with child sex tourism, by inserting these provisions into the Criminal Code Act 1995.

Child sex tourism, child sex offences and related matters are not edifying subject matters for debate but, as unpalatable as they are, it is necessary to debate the issues and to confront them in legislation. These abuses are not limited, as we well know, to children overseas; they also affect those children living within our own borders. Quite often we hear that children are our greatest asset and that children are the future. Yes, that is true, but such motherhood statements need to be backed up with actual and real protection. Anything that governments in the Western world can do to strengthen legislation and to provide assistance to rein in some of the preparatory activities and the industry of using and abusing children not only is most welcome but also is a fundamental responsibility of a great Western democracy such as our own.

I am very proud to be part of a government that has a very strong record in protecting children from predators. We have done much as a government to protect and shield children, both in Australia and overseas, from the evil perpetrated by child sexual predators. It is not just about the recognition of the basic evil of such activities but also about the recognition of the damage—the physical, emotional and mental damage—to those victims and also their families. That damage cannot be calculated in any real or monetary terms but it is enormous. All we need to do to understand that is to speak to or read some of the stories of some of the victims of child sex offences.

Only this month, many local members would have participated in the activities of National Child Protection Week. It was great to see local communities embrace this campaign. It was a great opportunity for local communities to break the silence and encourage people to speak about these issues, because speaking about them within particularly small communities is often the first step in helping those who have been victims and in addressing related social problems. White balloons, carrying a powerful message against child sex abuse, were on display in many communities, including Wangaratta and Wodonga. I was privileged to help the volunteers, who had put in so much time, distribute material and the white balloons with their message. I congratulate those who gave their time and continued to pioneer this new campaign. This important week aims to increase individual and community awareness and responsibility for the prevention of abuse and neglect of children, which may still often be a taboo subject in some communities or within some families. That is something we need to work on within our own country to ensure that we break down the walls of silence and encourage people to speak out.

The Australian government takes child abuse and neglect very seriously and makes a significant contribution by focusing on prevention and early intervention strategies in a very real and practical way in local communities. We have the $490 million Stronger Families and Com-munities Strategy, which is a major commitment to early intervention and prevention initiatives.

Returning to some of the other amendments in the bill, the definition of ‘serious and organised crime’ within the Australian Crime Commission Act 2002 will be amended to include existing child sex carriage service offences. This will enable the Australian Crime Commission to conduct necessary operations regarding such offences. These important amendments, we are told, have no financial implications for the Commonwealth, but they quite correctly enhance and strengthen our ability to more vigorously deal with child sex tourism offences along with matters pertaining to child pornography. They ensure comprehensive coverage of child sex offences in areas of traditional Commonwealth responsibility. They are most welcome.

I commend the minister and the department for continuing to reform our laws to ensure that we can do whatever is in our power as a nation in this part of the world to try and assist those who are in the most vulnerable position, not only those in Third World or developing countries but also those without an advocate, without any assistance. While assisting those who are incapable of helping themselves—children—we should also turn our minds to those who are the perpetrators—those in privileged positions who have the wealth and the ability to travel and to exploit children sexually—and ask how we deal with this particular problem within our own communities and within our own country. How do we deal with the mind of a person who could seem quite ordinary, quite normal and quite successful and who could be a participant in various communities around the country yet be so systematically abusing children? Unfortunately, those are questions that we will need to deal with for as long as we are on this earth, because this problem is very difficult to eradicate. What we can do is do everything in our power to provide legislation with real teeth to try and bring some of these people to justice. Surely that is the first step, instead of allowing them to have a relatively free rein for their perversions. I commend the minister and I commend the bill to the House.

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