Robert McClelland (Barton, Australian Labor Party, Attorney-General) Share this | Hansard source

I appreciate the member’s question. What I said at the outset in my press conference on Monday was:

The jury is still deliberating on charges against two individuals and the court orders remain in place in respect to those matters, so, as such, it would be inappropriate for me to comment on detail relating to those matters.

I went on:

However, I welcome the convictions that have been handed down today.

They were in respect of six individuals. For the record, might I say in respect of the Leader of the Opposition’s comments about reckless comments that, as I understand it, the defence counsel, in a submission that went to nearly two pages of transcript, challenged two of my comments. The first was where I said:

Successful prosecutions are of course important, vitally important, in sending a clear message to those who may be influenced by violent extremism.

That was one quote the defence counsel took objection to. The second statement the defence counsel took objection to was:

The seriousness of the offences involved in this case highlights why we must do all we can to ensure the public’s security.

They were the two comments that the defence counsel took exception to, in some two pages of transcript.

In terms of the member’s question, can I say—and it should be put on the record—that we certainly appreciate the work of the court. There was tremendous pressure on the court, the judge, the staff and the jury. We recognise the tremendous work. The trial went from February this year, with over 50 witnesses and 6,000 pages of evidence—a tremendous workload undertaken by the court. But in my comments on Monday—and I will table the transcript shortly—I specifically stated that my comments were not directed at matters still before the court.

While the defence counsel has a professional obligation to defend the interests of his client, my role as Attorney-General is to ensure public safety. In the face of six convictions being handed down, I saw it as my role to assure the community that all agencies are working hard to protect the safety of all Australians.

The other point I made in my statement on Monday was that it is important to recognise the role played by members of the Muslim community in assisting with the investigation. In other words, while, yes, certainly individuals have been convicted of very serious offences in these proceedings, this does not reflect upon the Australian Muslim community generally. I thought it important to make those points in the context of the widespread media reporting that was inevitably going to occur.

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