Luke Simpkins (Cowan, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

There is a very real threat to our nation and that threat exists here on our shores. It is real and it is dangerous, but it can be stopped. As I have said before, there are traitors in our midst. They are those who have had an allegiance to causes and organisations apart from this country. They place Islam, or their interpretation of Islam, above this nation. They must be found and dealt with strongly.

The threat is real, and an example was the attack on two police officers in Melbourne last Tuesday—clearly a planned attack. Fortunately, tragedy was avoided, and the situation was resolved with the appropriate shooting of a terrorist by a police officer. The police officers offered good faith and the benefit of the doubt, but instead were met by treachery. This event makes a mockery of the view advanced by those on the biased Q&A program last week, where it was suggested that the government was manipulating events and agencies for a political gain. Those that suggest that are apologists for terrorism. They undermine the security of this country and the safety of Australians.

It is known that foreign fighters in the Iraq and Syria area have come from 80 nations and all those nations harbour the same concerns. I am proud to be part of a government that is acting in a responsible and reasonable manner in taking the action necessary to protect the people of this country from the terrorist threat of traitors. Those in this parliament, in the media and in certain communities who try to blame the rise of IS, also known as Daesh, or extremist groups on this Australian government or on the invasion of Iraq in 2003 completely ignore the reality of what happened then and in more recent years. It is convenient for them to now talk up the virtues of Saddam Hussein and the absence of weapons of mass destruction, despite everyone believing that the weapons existed at the time. The fact is however that IS, the latest incarnation of violent Wahhabism, began in Syria and not in Iraq.

I support RAAF air strikes on IS in Iraq and also other air strikes on IS and other such terrorist groups. We should be involved and the more that can be dealt with in this way the better. I also fully support the cancellation of passports and the new laws to deal with those who have fought with terrorist and extremist groups, those that wish to go and those that support them. I also encourage the Prime Minister and the cabinet to revoke the citizenship of those dual citizens that betray our nation by joining and supporting such causes.

Our approach to dealing with the threat of such extremists must be multifaceted. As I have said already, it is increasingly being recognised that those extremists are coming out of many countries around the world. Australia has already recognised our responsibility to stop Australians from going to these places and to deal with them here. While there is criticism of Turkey for allowing many to cross the border and join terrorist groups such as IS, the reality is that a long, mountainous border is difficult to close. All nations must take action in this regard, as we have done, to stop their citizens from joining terrorist groups by cancelling passports and making it an offence to go to such places.

I find it absolutely bizarre that in the light of the barbarism that we have seen on social and mainstream media, there are some people who want to find excuses for those who choose to go and join such causes, and for those who can only be described as home-grown terrorists. They try to blame the government, or to blame society, or say they are misunderstood or they are led astray by others.

Excuse after excuse is always offered, but in the end there must actually be personal responsibility and accountability. These people make a personal decision to betray their country and follow the black flag of Shahada and the Islamic State. They make the decision to forsake the opportunities to legitimately succeed in this country and instead try to tear down this country and change it to resemble the countries that they or their families abandoned in the past. It is not society's fault and it is not the government's fault. Those who are in the middle of such hatred should stop trying to avoid responsibility and instead admit that the fault is not in the external factors but in their own attitudes and decisions.

I say that those who take up the causes of betrayal and barbarism are responsible for their own actions, and there are no excuses. Those who make excuses for them and take no action when aware of that traitorous action are also culpable. An example of what I mean is when the Islamic Council of Victoria implied that the government is at fault for the attack on the two police officers, when they should have instead condemned extremism, condemned IS and others and urged loyalty to this nation. That way we would know that they are on the right side with us and not on the wrong side.

I suspect that there is sympathy and support for the actions of IS and Islamists in this country. It may be tacit, but now is the time for the Islamic community organisations to all be as clear as Mamdouh Elomar and those who initiated the proud Australian barbecue in Lakemba in their opposition to extremism and IS. Now is the time for all Australians to know that there is a clear message of loyalty that should be embraced and would resolve the unity issues that are challenging this nation right now.

Every Islamic peak body, every mosque and every organisation should make a clear demonstration of their opposition to extremists and make that opposition public. I do not think that there have been enough media interviews, and where are the clear anti-extremist messages prominently displayed on all their websites? Given the ages of those who have been revealed as being involved, all the relevant secondary schools should also be clear on this subject in school assemblies and school newsletters. The message of anti-extremism, anti-violence and anti-terrorism is a message that must be clear in speeches, in digital media and in print media. At this point I do not think that it is clear, and in some cases it is completely absent. I looked at the Islamic Council of WA's website this morning: not one statement against extremism. My main point, however, is that at as many levels as possible the message must be consistent and clear and public, thereby giving all Australians no reason to doubt the loyalty of any group in our society.

I know that some people have approached me and said things about the Muslim community as a whole. It is not right to make outrageous generalisations. The vast majority of Muslim people are not involved in extremism and in fact just want to get on with their lives and make sure that their children have better opportunities than they had and that they will be successful in their chosen fields.

I pay tribute to my friend Zuhair Ebrahim and the Iraqi community in Perth for their clear anti-extremist and anti-terrorism statements and actions. I also thank Nasraddin Silwanagh and the Kurdish community in Perth for their clear message against extremists. I think that the principle behind the anti-extremist view is that people speak of their nation first and foremost, then of their homeland but not their religion. Zuhair speaks of being Australian, and then religion is after that. Nasraddin speaks of being Australian and his Kurdish ethnicity, and it is a loyalty above and beyond religion.

Herein is the success of immigration and the unity of a nation. It is a message that more people should be clear on. Every Australian should know that we all stand together against extremists, against traitors and against barbarism. Clear statements by communities will identify who the enemy is—because it is extremists. It is not the majority of the Islamic community, because they are almost entirely with us.

It is at times like this that we should have no doubt that the reason why so many people wanted to come to this country is that where they came from was not working and did not provide them with the opportunities to succeed. No-one should forget that, if it was bad enough to leave, it is not good enough to try to replicate here. What draws people to Australia is the opportunities, and they are the direct result of the great Western democratic principles that have defined this country and underpinned its success. Opportunities for us as Australians derive from the principles of a strong democracy, the equality of the genders, the secular nature of our laws, and the rights and, above all, the obligations of citizenship. We should all, in fact, assert the primacy of these great traditions and our achievements, which, while in some ways they may be imperfect, are in any case superior to those of any other nation.

In the last week I have been fortunate to have hosted several Western Australian schools here at the parliament. I know that it has been a cause for concern for some parents that their children would be visiting parliament and that there has been a terrorist threat to this parliament. I look around the security arrangements here and I think that there is no safer place in this country. The Australian Federal Police and the security team have things well under control here, so I thank the police and our highly professional parliamentary security team for their professionalism and their diligence.

Beyond this building I would say that in all honesty there is a threat. I say that ASIO, the AFP and the state police forces are all up to the task, with the strong and unequivocal support of every community in this country. I urge all Australians to reject the conspiracy theory and not be distracted from their vigilance by partisan political viewpoints advanced on the ABC's Q&A program. Australians should keep their eyes open and listen to what is going on, but we should not change the way we live our lives. We are in charge of this country, not terrorists and not extremists. We should not let their traitorous and violent intent impact upon what we do here. There is no excuse for executing and beheading prisoners or hostages or anyone. There is no excuse for trying to kill innocent Australians. There is no excuse for plotting to destroy infrastructure or property in this country or to terrorise Australians. Those that believe there is an excuse or a reason or any form of justification, along with those that support such traitors, are all therefore against us and they must be prosecuted and dealt with.

To conclude, I say simply that we should be proud of our nation and the causes that we are prepared to defend. We should not apologise for our actions or the great traditions of Australia. We should always be prepared to fight for the good in this world and be ready to destroy the evil.

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