Wyatt Roy (Longman, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

I rise tonight to speak to the Social Security Amendment (Supporting Australian Victims of Terrorism Overseas ) Bill 2011. It is my pleasure to speak to this bill, which will offer assistance to some of our most vulnerable Australians, this bill that acknowledges who we are as Australians and what we believe in.

Australians are renowned for their intrepid sense of adventure. With their larrikin personalities, young Australians are revered for fearlessly and boldly exploring the world around them. For generations we as Australians have ventured to countries far and wide to learn about other cultures and people and to enjoy the veritable smorgasbord of international experiences on offer. It is the value our culture places on experiences that drives our young people to exercise their sense of adventure, trying to do and see the things that they have never before done or seen. It is this boldness that encourages our young people to take gap years in between school and university, or between university and full-time employment, and to spend the time travelling overseas.

Increasingly, family holidays are more often spent overseas than in our own country. Many families travel together to our neighbours in Thailand, Bali or Fiji, or even further abroad to, for instance, our friends in the United Kingdom and the United States. More than ever, we are upwardly mobile. We are a country of people who enjoy overseas travel and, with the value we place on experiences, we consider travel to be one of the best experiences on offer. And this should not change. Travel has become a favourite pastime and the future ambition of many Australians, an ambition that we continue to aspire to and should be entitled to aspire to. There should be no reason why we cannot enjoy all that life has to offer, including overseas travel.

Unfortunately over the past decade much has changed. On the international stage, overseas terrorism has come upon us like a dark cloud. The events of the past decade mean that no longer can Australians boldly and carelessly explore the world without risk. I hope we never come to the point where we lose our sense of adventure, but the state of the world has changed. The purpose of terrorism is to scare. The point of these overseas terrorism attacks targeting Australians has been to frighten Australia into submission and to compromise the values by which we live our lives. Overseas tourism has become increasingly prevalent and its intended victims are not random. The crosshairs are on our way of life and our cultural values. We cannot afford to lose sight of the fact that these acts of terrorism are purposely designed to cause maximum damage to those who embody the values we hold so dear. They are deliberate acts to protest our Western civilisation for reasons that we cannot pretend to understand or respect.

In recent years we have collectively wept as members of our extended Australian family have become victims of acts of overseas terrorism. We have watched as we lost brothers and sisters in the World Trade Centre, in Bali, in London, in Jakarta and in Mumbai. There have been some 300-odd Australian victims of overseas terrorism in total and 300 lives that have been unnecessarily altered forever. We have watched as members of our community have become victims of an attack on Australia, Australians and the Australian way of life. Even now, more than a decade on from September 11, it is impossible to find a context to understand or excuse what has been done. And despite our current and continued efforts with our allies to stamp out these atrocious acts of terrorism and the dangerous organisations behind them, we are still engaged in a war on terrorism and it will be some time yet before we able to claim victory.

This is an ongoing effort which continues to see our troops working in Afghanistan and our Federal Police fighting for those values which are so very important to us. It is an effort we are committed to, to stand up for what we believe in, so that our children and our children's children will grow up sharing the same freedoms we enjoy now. Sadly, as yet, as a nation, it is not within our power to ensure absolute protection to those travelling overseas. As we have witnessed in the tragedies of the past decades, we cannot guarantee the safety of all Australians overseas. But this does not mean that when these insidious attacks take place we should not do everything in our power to assist those that have been attacked in our name. As a nation we owe a debt to our brothers and sisters who have been injured in these attacks on our way of life simply for being an Australian. Similarly to those who are serving in the Armed Forces in the war on terrorism, these Australians deserve our full support. The psychological and physiological damage will in many cases be long term. They will live with the sacrifices they have made permanently. Many of these victims are unable to continue to live their lives as they did previously. Many are forced to give up their jobs and their livelihoods because of the injuries they have suffered which make it untenable for them to continue their work. There are sacrifices that should be acknowledged and compensated for by the broader Australian community.

This is not to say that these victims have been left without any assistance. The Australian government has always been forthcoming with assistance for medical costs incurred as a result of these foul attacks. But payment for medical bills for the injuries alone does not make up for the difficulties endured by the victims and their families. These individuals, who have been victims simply because of who they are and the Western ideals that they represent, do not deserve to be ignored or forgotten by the government. They do not deserve to be abandoned in their time of need. These victims deserve to be supported by our country. That is exactly what this bill is about: it is about taking care of those who happen to have been in the wrong place at the wrong time and who fall prey to the insidious attacks of overseas terrorism. This bill creates a mechanism that enables an Australian victim of terrorism overseas payment. Upon the Prime Minister's declaring a terrorist incident as one which the program applies to, the payment will provide up to $75,000 for individuals who are injured or to a close family member of a person killed as a result of a terrorist attack committed overseas. The bill allows for the creation of instruments to help determine what payment up to $75,000 each victim receives. This bill will ensure that those receiving the payment will not be required to repay other benefits or deduct Medicare from the sum. This is a payment which will go a small way in righting some of the wrongs that victims of terrorism are punished with.

Sadly, many of those who have lived through these incidents and attacks survive only to be unable to resume their prior lives. They are plagued by injuries—both injuries that we can see and those that we cannot see. Frequently they are simply unable to return to work as a result of the injuries and find themselves struggling financially. Those individuals left in this position should not need to fear how their immediate bills will be paid. They deserve to be confident that there is some assistance available to help during the difficult times. By no means can a payment such as this wipe away the past, but this payment is intended to offer support in a small way to those who need and deserve it most.

I would like to take this opportunity to commend the government on adopting the Leader of the Opposition's private member's bill on this issue. I note the significant contribution that the Leader of the Opposition has made by focusing attention on the need for a payment to be established for Australian victims of overseas terrorism. It has taken a long campaign to be where we are today, at the point where we are debating this bill, but this is a long-overdue measure which will make a big difference in the lives of those affected by overseas terrorism.

I find fault with only one aspect of this bill. Since September 11 2001, we have seen several acts of overseas terrorism and some 300 Australians have become victims of terrorist acts. However, under this bill as it currently stands these 300-odd people and their close families will not receive the Australian victim of terrorism overseas payment. The very people whose cause has highlighted the need for this bill will themselves not be eligible for its benefits. While we can all agree that it is vital we ensure the payment for Australians who become victims of terrorism in the future, it is equally important that we look after those who have already experienced the pain that acts of overseas terrorism can cause. As a nation it is important that we can come together on this issue and begin to mend some of the injury that has already been caused. These individuals and their families have already endured so much. To deny them this opportunity would be a slap across the face for all they have experienced in Australia's name. Estimates are that making this bill retrospective to be inclusive of pre-existing victims would have a financial impact of $12 million. In the scheme of the war on terrorism this is a negligible amount, but the impact that this money would have for the 300 victims and their families would be extremely significant.

Strong fiscal management is an important key to government. Waste and mismanagement of taxpayers' funds is unforgivable and unacceptable, but the purpose of strong fiscal management is to ensure that those that are most vulnerable in our society are able to receive the support they need. The victims of overseas terrorism do indeed qualify as some of our most vulnerable, and they have not come to be vulnerable by their own making. These individuals and their families are victims of acts which they have no control over. They were targeted for who they were—for being Australian. For this, they deserve the support, understanding and consideration of our government, regardless of which side of the political fence it sits. An amount of $12 million in retrospective payments is a small price to pay for the families of 300 Australians to have some peace of mind. After the horrors they have endured, the least the Australian community can do is to provide a small amount of relief for the financial pressure they may experience.

This bill represents an important step in recognising the sacrifices that many Australians have made because of the lives we live and the values we hold dear. Whilst we cannot take back the horrors of the attacks, we can support the victims and we can continue to do everything in our capacity to stamp out the onerous actions that are forced upon them by terrorists who seek to deny our way of life. I commend the bill to the House.

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