Michael Keenan (Stirling, Liberal Party, Minister for Justice) Share this | Hansard source

I am very pleased to be able to talk on the motion as moved by the Minister for Foreign Affairs. I acknowledge her enormous efforts in her capacity as Australia's foreign minister to do everything she can and to spearhead the government's response to doing all we can to stop the execution of Mr Sukumaran and Mr Chan. All members of the government, and I think we are joined here by all members of the parliament, understand that this is a desperately difficult time for those two men and also for their families and friends. I personally feel very sorry for the individuals and their family and friends. Their predicament is a very sad illustration of what can ultimately happen to those who get caught up in international crime.

The government is opposed to the death penalty not only for Australian citizens but for all people of the world. We do not believe in the death penalty. I personally find it abhorrent, and we do all we can to assist, if Australians find themselves in these circumstances.

In the case of Mr Sukumaran and Mr Chan, the efforts of the Australian government, supported by the opposition, have been extensive. We are doing everything we can, and as the Prime Minister has said, we will leave absolutely no stone unturned in our efforts to stop these executions from occurring. A lot of that effort will be visible to the public; some of it will not. But I think people should feel very comfortable that we are doing absolutely everything that we can.

The government continues to make representations at the highest levels. The Prime Minister has made representations. The foreign minister has made representations. The Attorney-General has made representations. I have made representations. The vast majority of members of this parliament have made representations.

There has been a lot of commentary about the role of the Australian Federal Police, the agency for which I have ministerial responsibility, in the prosecution of Mr Sukumaran and Mr Chan. I have been asked about this publicly and I have said—and I will not change that here today—that I do not want to get into a long dissertation about the role of the AFP, because now is not the time for that. Now is the time for us to focus all of our available efforts in doing everything we can to stop these executions from occurring.

I want to put a little on the record, because I think it is important that some of the assertions that are out there about the role of the Australian Federal Police are not borne out by the evidence. Firstly, it is vitally important that the AFP cooperate with our partners internationally. We need to do that to keep us safe from terrorism. We need to do that to keep us safe from serious and organised crime and we need to do that to keep us safe from other criminal activity. Australia is in a region where the death penalty is imposed by many of the partners that we cooperate with, but the high level of cooperation between us and countries that have the death penalty must continue. It is of great benefit to Australia as a nation and it does an enormous amount to keep us safe.

We have a very high level of cooperation with Indonesia, and Indonesia is a key law enforcement partner for us. As I said, I do not want to go any further than that but I urge people not to make absolutest statements about the role of the Australian Federal Police. We want to focus on doing everything we can to make sure these executions do not occur.

I also want to note that the Federal Court has looked at the role of the Australian Federal Police in relation to this matter and they have concluded that they AFP met all its legal obligations when it disclosed information to the Indonesian authorities about the arrest of the Bali Nine.

I cannot stress enough how critical our cooperation is with Indonesia. That cooperation needs to continue and it will continue to keep Australians safe. It is also cooperation that has been supported by both sides of government.

It is always the case that when Australians commit crimes overseas they will be subject to the legal systems of those countries. Absolutely nothing good comes of the illicit drug trade.

That is all I will say about those matters. Obviously, there will be further community debate about that, but it is very important at the moment that we do not distract ourselves by doing something that will impact on our efforts to assist Mr Sukumaran and Mr Chan. We will do everything we can to impress on the Indonesian authorities at every level that Australians stand opposed to this punishment being carried out. We understand that these two men have done the wrong thing. We understand that they deserve to be punished. We do not support the death penalty.

I would urge the Indonesians to continue to consider our heartfelt appeals for clemency from the vast majority of people in this parliament and probably the vast majority of people in Australia.

I have written to my Indonesian counterpart and I have made those points. Other ministers will continue to do all we can to stop these executions from occurring. We hope over time that those efforts might bear fruit. Clearly, it is a very difficult situation. The Australian government will continue to do all that we can to assist.

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