Melissa Parke (Fremantle, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Assistant Minister for Health) Share this | Hansard source

I thank the member for Ryan for moving this motion regarding the release of Peter Greste from imprisonment in Egypt after 400 days. I commend the member for Ryan, as well as the member for Moreton—in whose electorate Peter Greste's parents, Lois and Juris, reside—for their endeavours in campaigning for Peter Greste's release.

As I noted in this place on 9 February, it has been inspirational to watch the Greste family, Lois and Juris and Peter's brothers, Michael and Andrew, campaigning with such grace and tenacity to see Peter freed, and to see their joy at their reunion with Peter on Australian soil. Peter, too, has set an incredible example of how to retain one's dignity in a situation of great strain by maintaining one's physical, mental and spiritual health—in Peter's case, through running, studying and meditation while in Tora prison.

Peter has indicated his determination to continue the campaign for justice for his al-Jazeera colleagues Mohamed Fahmy and Baher Mohamed, as well as for his colleagues convicted in absentia, who must go through life with this injustice hanging over their heads until it is remedied. I note that Mohamed Fahmy and Baher Mohamed have recently been released on bail, pending a retrial; however, it is hard to be confident that a second trial will be any better than the first one, which represented a major miscarriage of justice, given the lack of any evidence and the appallingly unfair process.

According to the Committee to Protect Journalists, or CPJ, Egypt remains one of the leading jailers of journalists. For instance, photographer Mahmoud Abou Zeid has been in prison for more than 500 days for covering protests. Peter Greste has publicly said he now feels a duty to campaign for media freedom more generally—no easy task when 221 journalists were imprisoned last year, the second worst year since records have been kept. The CPJ has listed China as the worst offender, followed by Iran. Saudi Arabia, when not beheading people for offences including sorcery, has sentenced Raif Badawi, editor of a secularist website, to 10 years imprisonment, a fine of $300,000 and 1,000 lashes administered at the rate of 20 each Friday for insulting Islam. Ethiopia is also repressing journalists and bloggers amid a broader crackdown on dissenting voices ahead of the May 2015 election, while Azerbaijan is imprisoning journalists and Turkey is attempting to stifle internet freedom, including Twitter, which CPJ notes is ironic, given the country is set to host the UN's Internet Governance Forum in September.

Unfortunately, as I noted in my speeches on 9 February and last year on 4 September, such attacks on media freedom are not only coming from terrorists and undemocratic governments; here in Australia, our government is becoming increasingly less transparent and accountable. The motion before us includes that the House 'notes that telling the truth is not terrorism and journalism is not a crime'. However, we now have anti-terror laws that include potential jail terms of 10 years for journalists who reveal details of special intelligence operations and the proposed data retention regime would ensure that police and intelligence agencies would have a large source of information with which to hunt down whistleblowers and the journalists to whom they have provided public interest information.

Attorney-General George Brandis approved an ASIO raid designed to intimidate the whistleblower who revealed Australia's spying on East Timor and to seize his passport to prevent him giving evidence in an international court. The lawyer representing him has been threatened with prosecution.

Freedom-of-information laws are being wound back and funding has been removed from the Office of the Information Commissioner in anticipation of it being abolished. The Information Commissioner is currently forced to work from home until the legislation is debated. Under the bill, merits reviews would be returned to the AAT with an $800 fee as a threshold requirement.

Community organisations engaging in advocacy on matters of public interest have been defunded. We have seen a civilian immigration department dealing with humanitarian issues almost transformed into a branch of Defence, with the adoption of military personnel, language and secrecy around 'on-water operations' and the increasing contracting out of former government work such as immigration detention centres, with details of such arrangements being kept from the public as 'commercial in confidence'.

The government is engaging in secret bilateral and multilateral negotiations with other governments on agreements such as the China-Australia Free Trade Agreement and the Trans Pacific Partnership that could have long-lasting repercussions for our sovereignty, our freedoms and our economy, yet the media and the community are locked out.

These changes make it harder for people to be informed about government and public service processes and they make it easier for government to carry on in secret, whether that is intercepting, detaining and redirecting people on the high seas; acquiring and holding metadata; criminalising journalism and whistleblowing in the public interest; or signing away Australia's rights to make laws for its own good governance.

In such a constrained global and national environment, an independent and strong media is more vital than ever, Again, I say to Peter Greste: welcome home; there is, unfortunately, much for you to do.

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