Richard Marles (Corio, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

I rise to speak in support of the Defence Legislation (Miscellaneous Amendments) Bill 2008, which is a bill that will, in three parts, amend the Geneva Conventions Act 1957, the Criminal Code Act 1995, the Defence Act 1903 and, finally, the Defence (Special Undertakings) Act 1952.

The first part of the legislative package which is contained in this bill puts into legislative effect the protocol additional to the Geneva conventions of 12 August 1949 relating to the adoption of an additional distinctive emblem for the Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement, otherwise known as protocol III. Australia signed up to protocol III on 8 March 2006 and it entered international force on 14 January 2007. Protocol III was placed before this parliament on 9 May 2007 and the Joint Standing Committee on Treaties considered it and reported on it on 16 August 2007, recommending the adoption of protocol III, leading to the bill that we have before the House today which gives legislative effect to protocol III.

The International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement is a movement that we are all aware of which seeks to protect human life and health and to alleviate human suffering. It does so without discrimination based on nationality, race, religious beliefs, class or political opinions. One of the issues, however, in stating that non-discriminatory basis of the assistance which is provided by the Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement is that the symbols—namely, a cross and a crescent—are perceived by many to have religious overtones. The symbols are, of course, very important in marking hospitals and facilities in which activities are undertaken in accordance with the Geneva conventions and which are undertaken by this international movement.

The situation is that in Israel, for example, Magen David Adom, the national emergency, medical, disaster, ambulance and blood bank agency of Israel, has had difficulties in becoming a part of the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement because it adopts the use of a different symbol, namely, the red shield of David. So there is a need for this international movement to have a different symbol, one which has no religious connotations at all, so that organisations such as the MDA, which have precisely the same kinds of humanitarian aims and objectives, can become a part of this international movement. With that in mind, a different symbol has been added to the list of the Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement, namely, the red crystal, a symbol which has no religious connotations at all. Indeed, if you go to the website of the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement, you will see that they have now, in accordance with protocol III, placed this third emblem on their website, namely, the red crystal. What this legislation does is protect the red crystal in precisely the same way as our law currently protects the symbol of the red cross and the red crescent, including providing for offences related to the misuse or inappropriate use of the red crystal, such offences also applying currently to the misuse or inappropriate use of the red cross or the red crescent.

Talking about this legislation does afford the opportunity to briefly reflect upon the work of the Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement, particularly at this moment in time. The Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement was founded by Henry Dunant, a Swiss businessman who, when visiting the emperor of France, Napoleon III, in 1859, happened upon him at the Battle of Solferino—a battle between France and Austria. The experience of witnessing it so moved him that he wrote a book entitled A Memory of Solferino, which was published in 1862. That became the inspiration for the establishment of committees which ultimately became the international Red Cross, and they were established by Henry Dunant. Those committees were devoted to providing humanitarian assistance to those affected by war.

Henry Dunant had an up-and-down life after that, but he was accorded a very rare honour by being the first recipient—a joint recipient, but the very first recipient—of the Nobel Peace Prize in 1901 for his work in establishing the International Red Cross Movement. Since then, the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement has been one of the most important international humanitarian movements that we have, providing assistance to those affected by war but also now providing assistance to those who have been affected by natural disasters. In Australia, the Australian Red Cross is the organisation in Australia which forms part of the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement. It was founded nine days after the commencement of the First World War by Lady Helen Munro-Ferguson, who was the wife of the then Governor-General.

The Australian Red Cross has been very active in both world wars and in a range of natural disasters which have affected this country—most notably, of course, the disaster which has so affected this country in the last week, the Victorian bushfires. Indeed, all of us are aware of how important their work is, with the wonderful relief efforts that they have undertaken in the Victorian bushfires. I think all of us are particularly aware of the Red Cross now. Many of us will have dialled their number and many of us will have visited their website in order to make a donation as they are coordinating the Victorian Bushfire Appeal. For the record, people can visit that website at www.redcross.org.au.

The first part of the legislative package is an important element in increasing the breadth of the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement so that this non-religious symbol of the red crystal can be used by those organisations which seek to use it. The second part of the legislative package relates to putting in place the legislative underpinning of a commitment made in the May budget last year, and this involves an amendment to the Defence Act 1903. The commitment that was made in the May budget was of $12.2 million towards a trial for providing GP facilities and certain dental care facilities to the families of ADF personnel at Singleton, Katherine, East Sale, Cairns and Karratha.

When ADF personnel are engaged in remote areas, moving from what has previously been their home is often a sacrifice for their families. One of the difficulties that is faced is obtaining medical assistance and medical care, and so a policy was taken to the last election to provide for that. What is in the budget of last year is a trial in relation to those five sites, but it is ultimately with a view to establishing this program for the families of all ADF personnel who are currently in receipt of free health care. This amendment to the Defence Act will provide for the regulations which will allow this commitment to occur.

The final part of this legislative package is an amendment to the Defence (Special Undertakings) Act 1952 which will provide for the better safety of the Joint Defence Facility at Pine Gap. In May 2007 a protest occurred at Pine Gap. There have been numerous protests over the years but the protest at Pine Gap in May 2007 resulted in a number of protesters unlawfully entering the grounds in an act of trespass. Those protesters were prosecuted but, in the course of the proceedings for those prosecutions, queries were raised about the legislative ability of the act to provide the basis for a successful prosecution. So this bill seeks to amend the act to make it clear that the Defence (Special Undertakings) Act will be a proper basis for the prosecution of a person unlawfully entering the Joint Defence Facility at Pine Gap. It does that by expanding the constitutional basis of the act. This is important protection for the base.

Pine Gap is a facility that was built in 1967. Its activities are confidential but in broad terms they involve the collection of intelligence by technical means as well as providing ballistic missile early warning information. It is a joint facility between the American and the Australian governments and, whilst its activities are confidential, full knowledge and concurrence in all the activities which occur at Pine Gap on the part of those Australians who are working at Pine Gap as well as the Australian government is the basis upon which activities are undertaken. That is a very important principle of operation at Pine Gap because it establishes the sovereignty of our country in that facility, something that has often been questioned by those protesting about the facility.

The Pine Gap facility contributes greatly to global peace and security through the intelligence gathering at the facility and through the early warning of ballistic missile launches that it provides. It is key to US-Australian military cooperation, a cooperative relationship which unquestionably assists the United States but which is also of enormous benefit to the Australian military in being able to work closely with and, at times, within the US defence forces. It is a very important relationship and forms a key part of the US-Australian alliance. The US-Australian alliance is often formally dated to the commencement of the ANZUS treaty in 1951 or perhaps even earlier, to the famous article of Prime Minister John Curtin in his New Year’s message which was published on 27 December 1941, when he described Australia as looking to America in the context of the Second World War. Without question the prosecution of the Pacific theatre of the Second World War, with Douglas MacArthur being based in this country and the close personal relationship between MacArthur and Curtin, which in turn fostered a relationship between the Australian and American governments, was ultimately the basis for the US-Australian alliance.

We share key values with the United States of America: a love of human rights, a value of freedom, a system of democracy. The United States is our major economic partner and we are both engaged in a shared sphere of influence in the world, namely the Pacific. That is evidenced through the shared role that we both played during the Pacific theatre of the Second World War. There is no more important bilateral relationship that this country has than the one that it has with the United States of America. That relationship is a pillar in our foreign policy. Pine Gap is an intrinsic part of that relationship and providing for the security of that base is a very important obligation that our nation has. This bill will enhance our ability to provide security for the base and for those reasons I commend it to the House.

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