Tony Smith (Casey, Liberal Party, Deputy Chairman , Coalition Policy Development Committee) Share this | Hansard source

Wrongful acts in English Common Law can be subdivided into two general categories known by Latin terms: malum prohibitum and malum in se. The Oxford English Dictionary defines 'malum prohibitum' as:

Something which is not intrinsically wicked but which is regarded as wrong because it contravenes a law or regulation.

Tossing an orange peel out of your car window, for example, is littering and illegal, but we all agree it is not an act so vile as to incite a rebellion of our moral sensibilities. By contrast, 'malum in se' translates into English as 'evil in and of itself', an action so inherently depraved that no law is required to deem it or tell us it is an abomination.

This motion calls upon the House to condemn the mother of all mala in se. It calls upon this House to denounce the attack on Malala Yousafzai as a crime so incontestably heinous, so irreducibly vicious, that its perpetrators are consigned to the dark netherworld of barbarism. As we grapple with our detestation of this atrocity, we might wonder how anyone might become so warped as to commit it. We might ponder what foul fires of fanaticism could so incinerate the human soul as to mark a helpless teenage girl out for death. The answer to that question is found within a tragic truth of our time. It is found within the medieval doctrines of Talibanism that seek to bludgeon the world into the heart of a gothic darkness. Central to this totalitarian mindset is the belief that women must be kept subservient, subordinate and illiterate.

But it was an outright refusal to accept the subjugation of her gender that caused Malala to fall afoul of the Taliban. She has been a wonderful advocate for female equality, growing up in the Swat Valley, ground zero of Pakistan's jihadi insurgency. She saw firsthand the violent campaign to terrorise girls schools into closure. But Malala refused to submit to Taliban thuggery. In a televised address before the Peshawar Press Club, she issued a defiant challenge to the barbarians who sought to rob her of the future simply because of who she was. She said:

How dare the Taliban take away my basic right to education?

Her audience of hard-bitten journalists was awed by the appearance of a young girl, at that point not even in her teens, who combined courage and eloquence in equal measure. The BBC was impressed enough to offer her a column on the network's Urdu website. In January 2009, Malala penned her first piece, describing her intention to defy a Taliban edict that forbade girls from attending school. Relating how her principal advised students to refrain from coming to school in uniform or colourful clothes, she wrote:

I decided to wear my favourite pink dress.

Through that small act of rebellion, Malala placed another stone in that palisade of ideas that defends liberty from the encroachments of tyranny. Needless to say, the Taliban took extreme exception to this adolescent advocate for female freedom. These jihadi barbarians responded through the only language they understand: they placed Malala in the crosshairs of their hit list. In October last year, Taliban assassins finally caught up with Malala as she was doing what she does best—furthering her education. They waylaid her school bus as she was coming home from class and forced their way aboard at gunpoint. Malala was armed with schoolbooks and they, of course, were armed with guns. After identifying her by name, they shot her without mercy, leaving her for dead. But die she did not.

It was touch and go for a while and Malala was flown to the UK for surgery. Happily, as we all know in this place, she is well on the road to recovery. In fact, just last week Malala gave her first televised interview since being attacked last October. She described the myriad notes of benediction received from people across the world, saying:

Because of these prayers, God has given me this new life and this is a second life.

I want to serve the people and I want every girl, every child, to be educated …

A fortnight ago, Malala was nominated for the 2013 Nobel Peace Prize by three members of the Norwegian parliament. I cannot think of a more worthy recipient. I applaud this initiative by our Scandinavian colleagues, and I believe the House does well tonight by expressing its words of admiration for Malala Yousafzai. Malala's father, Zia Yousafzai, himself a school principal and advocate for female education, is also worthy of our greatest respect. We should all be humbled by the example of this young hero's bravery and integrity. I know I am, and I know that those speaking on this motion are as well.

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